Phosphoamino acid phosphatases in normal and cancerous tissues of the human uterus, cervix and ovary.

The activities of phosphoamino acid phosphatases were measured in human myometrium and fibroma and normal and cancerous tissues of the cervix and ovary. Phosphoserine and phosphothreonine phosphatases were detected only in myometrium and fibroma and the values were relatively low. Phosphotyrosine phosphatase activities in myometrium and fibroma fell within a similar range; this was also the case for ovary and ovarian carcinoma, whereas values for cervical tumours were significantly higher than for normal cervix. Activities of phosphotyrosine phosphatase in serum from patients with cervical or other tumours were, in most cases, within the range of values obtained for normal serum.