Perioperative functional activity of the alternative pathway of complement in patients with colonic cancer

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the functional capacity of the alternative pathway of complement in patients with cancer of the colon before, during, and after operation. Design: Prospective study. Setting: One university and two district hospitals, Denmark. Subjects: 28 patients having elective or emergency operations for colonic cancer. Interventions: Measurements of C3b fixing capacity of the alternative complement pathway in serum before, during, and after operation. Main outcome measurements: The functional capacity of the alternative pathway of complement, and changes during operation. Results: The functional capacity of the alternative pathway in patients with cancer of the colon was above normal (p < 0.0001 for both men and women), and the capacity remained unchanged during operation despite dilution of serum preoperatively. Conclusion: The alternative pathway seems to be the only immunological variable that has so far been shown to have increased functional capacity in patients with cancer, and that remains unaltered (mean value) during operation. The importance of retaining normal function of the alternative complement pathway in the prevention of postoperative infective complications and recurrence of cancer has not yet been elucidated.