Plasma Glycosaminoglycans as Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarkers in Surgically Treated Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Background: Plasma glycosaminoglycan (GAG) measurements, when aggregated into diagnostic scores, accurately distinguish metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) from healthy samples and correlate with prognosis. However, it is unknown if GAG scores can detect RCC in earlier stages or if they correlate with prognosis after surgery.

Objective: To explore the sensitivity and specificity of plasma GAGs for detection of early-stage RCC and prediction of recurrence and death after RCC surgery.