Increasing urinary levels of modified nucleosides and bases during tumor development in mice

Based on the fact that human cancer patients excrete increased amounts of various modified nucleosides and bases in their urine, we investigated whether the same phenomenon takes place in mice bearing experimentally induced tumors. We did indeed find that mice with MCA-induced skin tumors and mice exhibiting leukemia after X-ray irradiation excrete severalfold higher levels of modified nucleosides and bases than do untreated control mice. Comparison of the time course of altered urinary excretion of these RNA catabolites with the appearance of a recognizable tumor after MCA application revealed that the onset of the altered excretion rate of these compounds precedes tumor diagnosis. At present, the time-course studies in our mice exposed to a single X-ray dose to induce lymphoblastic leukemia seem to indicate a similar situation. Mice exhibiting preleukemic histological features already excrete increased amounts of various modified nucleosides and bases. Confirmation of our results by analysis of further irradiation-exposed mice in our present detailed time-course studies and of tumors experimentally induced in other organs of mice and other species will be taken as a basis for developing an in vivo test for carcinogenicity. Furthermore, the results could provide a foundation for the setting up of a noninvasive, early screening method for cancer in human beings.