Measurements of antithrombin III in solid tumor patients with and without hepatic metastases

Measurements of Antithrombin III (AT III), the primary inhibitor of serine protease coagulation proteins in blood, have been obtained and analyzed in various disease states. One large important group of patients in whom coagulation. alterations have been postulated is patients with solid neoplasms. The behavior of AT III in such patients has yet to be clearly defined. We present a large prospective study of AT III in 75 patients with solid neoplasms, many with documented hepatic involvement. We found that patients with solid neoplasms, including most patients with even extensive neoplastic involvement of the liver maintain normal AT III levels until their disease becomes preterminal or until a complication, such as DIC, independently lowers the AT III.