| Abstract: | In a prospective study of liver function tests in cholestatic jaundice, the median serum level of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in 129 patients with cancer involving extrahepatic ducts and liver (556 IU/1) was significantly higher (P less than 0.001) than that in 121 patients without cancer (264 IU/1). Of patients with an ALP level of greater than 10 X N, 88% had cancer whereas serum levels of ALP of less than 3 X N were observed in only 9% of patients with cancer but in 45% of those without cancer, most of whom had bile duct stones. A high serum level of ALP is associated with cancer involving extrahepatic ducts and liver. |
