Retinol and tocopherol content in primary and metastatic digestive neoplasms.

Purpose: Recent controlled and randomized trials in patients at risk of lung and upper or lower digestive-tract cancer have produced conflicting and uncertain results regarding the protective role of liposoluble vitamin supplementation, mainly when retinol was employed in the prevention of upper and lower digestive tract neoplasms. Accordingly, we have undertaken an extensive appraisal of the behaviour of retinol and tocopherol in both human upper and lower digestive neoplasms. Experimental Design: One hundred and twenty inpatients were enrolled: 43 with viral chronic active hepatitis (CAH), 21 with cholelithiasis (CHOL), 17 with gastric neoplasms (GN) and 21 with colo-rectal neoplasms (CRN) and 18 with digestive neoplasms and liver metastases (DN+LM). Levels of retinol and tocopherol both in the plasma and in tissue taken from non-malignant portions and secondary malignant nodules of the liver, as well as from the primitive malignant mass, were determined following a well-tried HPLC technique. Results: Plasma concentration of retinol was significantly reduced in both GN and DM groups with respect to the non-neoplastic groups. Tocopherol levels were significantly lower only in the GN; surprisingly, they were higher even in the DM patients and in relation to total serum lipids (E/TSL ratio). There was a sharp decrease in the liver tissue levels of total, mainly esterified, retinol in both CHOL and neoplastic groups; tocopherol, on the other hand, remained more or less unchanged, except in the liver metastatic nodules and primary colonic tumor mass, where it increased.Conclusions: Levels of plasma vitamin and tissue retinol and tocopherol therefore appear to be unpredictable, and this must be taken into account when prescribing dietary and therapeutic régimes.