[Utility of the serum CRP value for assessing the prognosis and therapeutic response of urological malignancies].

C-reactive protein (CRP) is an unspecific marker of systemic inflammation. It is known to be elevated in autoimmune disease, traumata and malignancies. Increased CRP levels have specifically been shown to be associated with disease progression and prognosis in various studies on renal cell carcinoma and transitional cell carcinoma. Although CRP, unlike PSA, is neither organ-specific nor tumour-specific, studies were able to show that increased CRP values are an independent prognostic marker for tumour-specific survival of patients with prostate cancer. In metastatic and castration-resistant prostate cancer elevated CRP levels have been approved as a useful marker to estimate the extent of disease and mortality. CRP measurements in serum are standardised worldwide and widely used in daily clinical routine. However, until CRP can be firmly established as a prognostic marker in daily routine, we need validation of its prognostic and predictive value with large and preferably prospective multicentre studies. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.