| pubmed-article:12402419 | pubmed:abstractText | Renal cell carcinoma has a very poor prognosis since various therapeutic modalities other than radical operation are not effective. Early detection and treatment are of considerable importance to cure the patients; however, early diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma is not easy because no specific tumor marker, like PSA for prostate cancer, is available. MN/CA9 is considered to be one of the carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes, and is expressed in approximately 90% of renal cell carcinomas. Expression of MN/CA9 in normal tissues is very limited. Using optimal RT-PCR with specific primers, MN/CA9 positive cells were clearly detected in the blood. The sensitivity and specificity were found to be approximately 40% and 90% respectively. The detection of circulating renal cell carcinoma cells using RT-PCR for MN/CA9 mRNA is useful for diagnosis of the presence of renal cell carcinomas. This RT-PCR assay may also be able to provide information with which to predict the prognosis of the patients. | lld:pubmed |
