The Glucose Metabolism of Patients with Malignant Disease and of Normal Subjects as Studied by Means of an Intravenous Glucose Tolerance Test12

Abstract

Intravenous glucose tolerance tests were performed in 36 patients with chronic leukemia, lymphoma and clinically early epithelial neoplasms, and in 19 subjects without cancer. These individuals were carefully selected to exclude various factors known to impair carbohydrate metabolism. The glucose tolerance curves were analyzed by plotting the log of the total blood concentration against time, and by plotting the log of the blood sugar concentration in excess of the fasting value against time. These methods provided equally good indices of glucose tolerance. The patients with malignant disease had a significantly decreased fractional rate and a significantly lower net rate of disappearance of glucose. The fasting blood sugar was within normal limits. No significant difference in the estimated volume distribution of glucose was found between the two groups. In the patients with malignant disease, the fasting serum inorganic phosphate concentration was significantly greater and the maximum per cent fall in inorganic phosphate was significantly less than in the control individual. No significant difference was observed in the fall in serum K concentrations between the two groups.