Abstract
We determined the concentrations of immunoreactive epidermal growth factor in the urine (U-irEGF) of 97 adult patients with various malignancies, including carcinomas of the urinary bladder, kidney, stomach, colon, rectum, breast, endometrium, uterine cervix, ovary, vagina, prostate, pancreas and thyroid, liposarcoma and skin melanoma. The relative U-irEGF concentrations (ng m-1 creatinine) were higher (P = 0.002) for the whole series of female patients than for healthy controls matched for sex and age. Such difference did not appear for male patients. The only specific group with a statistically supranormal U-irEGF concentration (P = 0.0005) comprised women with endometrial carcinoma of the uterus.
Highlights
To eliminate the effect of variability in the rate of water excretion, U-irEGF concentrations were expressed in ng per mg creatinine, as previously established (Dailey et al, 1978; Mattila et al, 1985)
These relative U-irEGF concentrations of the whole series of female cancer patients were higher (P=0.002) than those of healthy female controls No such difference appeared for the male cancer patients (Figure 2)
Urinary irEGF concentrations were statistically supranormal in female cancer patients in general, but as far as specific patient groups were concerned, only in women with endometrial carcinoma
Summary
Spot urine samples were collected from 97 patients (49 men and 48 women, aged 28-88 years) with various malignancies before surgical removal (or any other treatment) of the tumour. In addition to those shown, six patients had carcinomas, I of the vagina, 2 of the pancreas, and 3 of the thyroid, and 1 patient had liposarcoma and 1 skin melanoma. The malignancies included both metastasized and in situ tumours.
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