Urinary neopterin levels in hematologic malignancies.
We studied urinary excretion levels of neopterin in 30 cancer patients affected by non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, Hodgkin's disease and multiple myeloma compared to 30 healthy subjects. Mean value of neopterin excretion in cancer patients (576.01 +/- 620.37) appeared significantly increased (p less than 0.001) compared to normal controls (134.40 +/- 41.65). A neopterin excretion above the upper normal limit was observed in 23/28 (82%) patients with active disease. A trend to an increased urinary level of neopterin with more advanced stage was observed, namely in patients with bone marrow involvement and constitutional symptoms. We suggest that the evaluation of urinary neopterin levels may be of value in the diagnosis and follow-up of hematologic malignancies.
G
G
Santelli
A
A
Marfella
G
G
Abate
P
P
Comella
F
F
Nitsch
M
M
Perna
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001708:Biopterins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000652:urine*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000652:urine*; D006801:Humans; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000652:urine*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000652:urine*; D019798:Neopterin; D011621:Pteridines / Q000652:urine*
D011621:Pteridines; D001708:Biopterins; D019798:Neopterin