STABILITY OF HUMAN URINARY GONADOTROPIN PEPTIDE

Tn this report, we evaluate the stability of urinary gonadotropin pept ide (UGP), an urinary tumor marker for trophoblastic malignancies, whi ch is also promising for other types of cancer. The concentrations wer e independent of the duration of storage (p > 0.1), but the mean diffe rence between UGP values for samples stored at 4 degrees C and those k ept at room temperature is 5.5% (p < 0.002), with the higher values fo r refrigerated samples. We conclude that UGP is stable at room tempera ture, allowing mailing of urine samples. Refrigerated (4 degrees C) sa mples show slightly increased values. However, this will have no clini cal relevance in monitoring cancer patients.