Fibrin Degradation Products in Serum and Urine in Patients with Renal Carcinoma

Abstract

Serum and urine from 26 patients with renal carcinoma were examined for fibrin degradation products (FDP). The clinical material was divided into two main groups: A with 12 patients without metastases, and B with 14 patients with metastases diagnosed before or at operation. Sixteen patients—8 from each group—were observed for periods ranging from 3 weeks to 21/2 years after the operation. Before the radical operation, half of the patients without known metastases had FDP in the serum in a concentration of 5–20 μg/ml, but only 1 after operation, and even in that patient FDP were no longer demonstrable 10 months later. All of the patients except 1 with metastases had FDP in the serum before operation in a concentration of 5–60 μg/ml. At the follow-up, 4 of the 5 who had not been operated upon radically had FDP in the serum. Three who had remote metastases and in whom the operation had been radical had no FDP in the serum. The investigation showed that FDP in the serum occur in most patients with renal carcinoma with local or remote metastases and persist post-operatively in patients not operated upon radically.