Pre-operative urinary cathepsin D is associated with survival in patients with renal cell carcinoma.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND: No circulating markers are routinely used for renal cancer. The objective of this pilot study was to investigate whether conditioned media (CM) from renal cancer cell lines contains potential biomarkers that, when measured in clinical fluids, have diagnostic or prognostic utility. METHODS: Comparative 2D PAGE profiling of CM from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and normal renal cultures identified cathepsin D that was subsequently validated in urine samples from 239 patients and healthy and benign disease subjects. RESULTS: Urinary cathepsin D was found to be significantly associated with overall (OS) (hazard ratio, HR, 1.33, 95%CI [1.09-1.63], P=0.005) and cancer-specific survival (HR 1.36, 95%CI [1.07-1.74], P=0.013) in RCC patients on univariate analysis. An optimal cut point (211 ng ml(-1) micromolCr(-1)) around which to stratify patients by OS was determined. Five-year OS equal to/above and below this value was 47.0% (95%CI 35.4%, 62.4%) and 60.9% (48.8%, 76.0%), respectively. On multivariable analysis using pre-operative variables, cathepsin D showed some evidence of independent prognostic value for OS (likelihood ratio test P-value=0.056) although requiring further validation in larger patient numbers with sufficient statistical power to determine independent significance.CONCLUSION: These data establish an important proof of principle and show the potential of proteomics-based studies. Cathepsin D may be of value as a pre-operative urinary biomarker for RCC, alone or in combination.

Author information

Author/s: Vasudev, N S (NS); Sim, S (S); Cairns, D A (DA); Ferguson, R E (RE); Craven, R A (RA); Stanley, A (A); Cartledge, J (J); Thompson, D (D); Selby, P J (PJ); Banks, R E (RE);

Affiliation: Cancer Research UK Clinical Centre, Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, St James's University Hospital, Leeds, UK.

Grants: (Agency:Cancer Research UK)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: British journal of cancer (Br J Cancer), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Oct; vol 101 (issue 7) : pp 1175-82

Dates: Created 2009/09/30; Completed 2009/10/14; Revised 2009/10/28;

PMID: 19789534, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/29/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.