Plasma fibronectin in patients with brain tumors.

Fibronectin, a large molecular weight glycoprotein normally found on the surface of many cells, was measured in the plasma of 15 normal volunteers and 75 patients with various kinds of brain tumors or other kinds of neurological disorders. The mean plasma fibronectin in the control group was 253 micrograms/ml. Statistically significant elevations in fibronectin levels were found in patients with progressive high grade astrocytomas (mean = 413 micrograms/ml). The majority of patients with high grade astrocytomas in remission had normal levels of fibronectin (mean = 273 micrograms/ml). Elevations were noted in patients with low grade astrocytomas, meningiomas, and benign nonneoplastic neurological disorders. Plasma fibronectin may be useful diagnostically and therapeutically in identifying and managing some patients with high grade gliomas. However, of greater importance is the observation that fibronectin elevation is the result of a tumor-host interaction.