Plasma glycosaminoglycan scores in early stage renal cell carcinoma

Introduction & Objectives No diagnostic blood biomarker for RCC is currently used in the clinical routine. Using a systems biology approach, we previously developed a score based on circulating glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) that detected metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with 92.6%, 93.7%, and 100% accuracy vs. healthy subjects using either plasma, urine, or combined measurements in a validation cohort (Gatto et al., 2016, Cell Reports). It is still unknown if this test is accurate in early stage RCC or other RCC histologies. The primary endpoint of this study was the area-under-thecurve (AUC) in the use of plasma GAG scores to detect pre-operative RCC, any stage and any histology, versus healthy individuals.