Evaluation of urinary glycosaminoglycan excretion in patients with renal cell carcinoma

To evaluate a possible correlation between the urinary excretion of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and tumor stage and size in renal cell cancer (RCC), a prospective controlled study was performed.

34 patients (13 females, 21 males) with clinically and histologically proven RCC were included in the study. Following the staging procedures 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 described method.

Urinary GAG excretion was found to be increased in RCC patients, with a strong relation to the size of the tumor. Patients with relatively larger tumor masses seemed to excrete higher amounts of GAGs in urine (r = 0.8235; p < 0.001). In contrast, we were not able to show any significant difference in urinary GAG excretion with respect to tumor stage (f = 5.92; p = 0.0068). Patients with multiple foci of RCC (n = 3) had relatively higher rates of GAG excretion than patients with same-size single-tumor masses.

Although our results revealed GAG excretion in RCC patients as a possibly useful marker with respect to tumor size, no correlation to the stage of RCC was observed. Further investigation using larger series of patients and other definitive parameters is certainly needed in order to provide more reliable data, before considering urinary GAG excretion as a useful marker.