Urinary lipids in vesical carcinoma: a new biological marker. Preliminary study

We have determined urinary lipids by thin-layer chromatography in 40 patients with bladder tumors, and have evaluated their modification following tumor removal and their predictive value in terms of the presence or absence of recurrences. The results obtained were compared with those of a control group without tumoral pathology (14 patients) and 11 cases with bacterial infection of the urinary tract. There is a marked difference between the lipidogram of the tumoral group of patients and the controls (p less than 0.005), especially in the phospholipid to fatty acid (PL/FA) relationship, with a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 80%. With regard to recurrences, in non-recurrent cases the PL/FA value remained high in relation to the initial value (p less than 0.005), whereas in the recurrent cases the value rose to 'tumoral limits'. Macrohematuria and urinary infection modify the lipidogram, resulting in values similar to the tumoral cases. Their absence is therefore essential in order to evaluate the results. The urinary lipidogram appears to be a possible biological marker for bladder tumors.