SUPEROXIDE-DISMUTASE AND CATALASE BLOOD-LEVELS IN PATIENTS WITH MALIGNANT DISEASES

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities have been mea sured in blood from male and female patients of different ages with se veral types of cancer, in order to examine the relationship among canc er and the two free radical detoxificant enzymes. SOD activity in pati ents with cancer was found not to be significantly different from the SOD activity observed in the normal population. CAT activity was lower in patients with cancer, especially in lymphomas, when compared with CAT activity in the normal population.