Amylase is composed by two isoenzymes groups: pancreatic or salivary type. This last part can be increased in many diseases. A case of lung cancer with elevated amylase activity in blood, urine and pleural fluid is reported in a 74-year-old man. This increase was due to salivary type isoamylases with an unusual component which disappeared by neuraminidase treatment. The significance and the origin of this hyperamylasemia with non pancreatic cancer are discussed.
Adenocarcinoma Aged