EVALUATION OF URINARY GLYCOSAMINOGLYCAN EXCRETION IN PATIENTS WITH RENAL-CELL CARCINOMA

Objective: To evaluate a possible correlation between the urinary exre tion of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and tumor stage and size in renal ce ll cancer (RCC), a prospective controlled study was performed. Methods : 34 patients (13 females, 21 males) with clinically and histologicall y proven RCC were included in the study. Following the staging procedu res of RCC in each patient nephrectomy was performed; subsequently the size of the tumor (length and width) was calculated using nephrectomy material. Urinary GAG excretion was determined using a previously des cribed method. Results: Urinary GAG excretion was found to be increase d in RCC patients, with a strong relation to the size of the tumor. Pa tients with relatively larger tumor masses seemed to excrete higher am ounts of GAGs in urine (r = 0.8235; p < 0.001). In contrast, we were n ot able to show any significant difference in urinary GAG excretion wi th respect to tumor stage (f = 5.92; p = 0.0068). Patients with multip le foci of RCC (n = 3) had relatively higher rates of GAG excretion th an patients with same-size single-tumor masses. Conclusions: Although our results revealed GAG excretion in RCC patients as a possibly usefu l marker with respect to tumor size, no correlation to the stage of RC C was observed. Further investigation using larger series of patients and other definitive parameters is certainly needed in order to provid e more reliable data, before considering urinary GAG excretion as a us eful marker.