Combination Assay of Urinary Free l -fucose and Trypsin Inhibitor may be Useful Indicators of Disease Activity in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies

Abstract

l -Fucose is a monosaccharide located at the non-reducing ends of sugar chains of glycoconjugates. Urinary l -fucose (U-FC) is excreted as free l -fucose, and clinically useful as a tumor marker of digestive organ cancers. We evaluated the clinical usefulness of U-FC levels in patients with various hematologic malignancies because U-FC for hematologic malignancies has only rarely been described. The mean U-FC levels in the acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL), myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and myeloproliferative disorders (MPD) groups were significantly higher than in the control group (P <0.05). Recently, we reported that urinary trypsin inhibitor (UTI) levels in patients with ANLL, MDS, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma were significantly elevated, compared with those in healthy adult volunteers. Noninvasive combination assays of UTI and U-FC may have a higher accuracy in diagnosis of ANLL and MDS than those of UTI or U-FC alone. UTI and U-FC combination assays, noninvasive for patients, could be expanded as useful indicators in hematologic malignancies.

• Urinary l -fucose
• Tumor Marker
• Hematologic Malignancies
• Urinary Trypsin Inhibitor
• Noninvasive Assay
• Combination Assay