Biomarkers of renal cell carcinoma. Past and future considerations.

Renal cancer includes several distinct entities with a range of biologic and clinical behaviors from relatively indolent to extremely aggressive tumors. Although conventional prognostic factors such as stage and grade are quite useful, other clinical, laboratory, and pathologic findings are now believed to have additional predictive values. This article reviews the literature on the potential utility of biomarkers in renal cell carcinoma. To date, only a few biomarkers, such as Ki-67, appeared to be potentially useful for monitoring renal cancer patients. New biomarkers including MN/CA9 and circulating cell detection require further and extensive studies to assess their potential clinical utility.