The activity of hexokinase was studied in several normal and malignant human tissues. The enzyme activity in tumors was significantly higher. Isoenzyme studies on normal gastric mucosa and stomach cancer extracts showed that malignancy is accompanied by a "simplification" of the hexokinase isoenzyme pattern due to "deletion" of the slowest isoenzyme. Preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoreis was used to isolate hexokinase isoenzymes from normal and malignant tissues. Tumor hexokinase isoenzymes displayed an increased affinity to glucose when compared to the corresponding normal prototypes (Km/glucose, 10(-6) M and 10(-5) M, respectively; Km = Michaelis constant). The molecular weights, subunit composition, and peptide patterns were identical for corresponding isoenzyme pairs from normal and tumor tissues.