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Updated: Oct 19, 2025

The Use of Reverse Phase Protein Arrays RPPA to Explore Protein Expression Variation within Individual Renal Cell Cancers
Published on: January 22, 2013
Early detection of kidney cancer using urinary proteins: a truly non-invasive strategy
Jordan G Flitcroft1, Jeroen Verheyen2, Tarun Vemulkar1
1Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Objectives:
To review urinary protein biomarkers as potential non-invasive, easily obtainable, early diagnostic tools in renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
Methods:
A PubMed database search was performed up to the year 2020 to identify primary studies reporting potential urinary protein biomarkers for RCC. Separate searches were conducted to identify studies describing appropriate methods of developing cancer screening programmes and detection of cancer biomarkers.
Results:
Several urinary protein biomarkers are under validation for RCC diagnostics, e.g. aquaporin-1, perilipin-2, carbonic anhydrase-9, Raf-kinase inhibitory protein, nuclear matrix protein-22, 14-3-3 Protein β/α and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin. However, none has yet been validated or approved for clinical use due to low sensitivity or specificity, inconsistencies in appropriate study design, or lack of external validation.
Conclusions:
Evaluation of biomarkers' feasibility, sample preparation and storage, biomarker validation, and the application of novel technologies may provide a solution that maximises the potential for a truly non-invasive biomarker in early RCC diagnostics.
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