Use of urinary hydroxyproline excretion as a tumor marker in diagnosis and follow-up of prostatic carcinoma.

Urinary hydroxyproline/creatinine ratio was measured in 49 patients of prostatic carcinoma and 13 patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy, the latter group serving as controls. The results show that it is a very sensitive indicator of osseous metastases in prostatic carcinoma. The ratio was also measured in 18 patients of prostatic carcinoma with bony metastases before commencement of treatment and during treatment. The results show that the elevated pretreatment values were significantly reduced in those who responded to therapy whereas in nonresponders, the values remained high. Changes in urinary hydroxyproline appeared to reflect the nature of response to treatment better than other parameters.