Neuron-specific enolase: a serum tumor marker in renal cell carcinoma?

In previous reports, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) has been considered to be a useful tumor marker in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). This led us to perform a prospective clinical trial in this field. NSE was checked as a tumor marker for diagnosis and monitoring of patients with RCC. We report on 55 patients and their NSE level before and after radical nephrectomy and correlated the serum level of NSE to immunohistological staining and clinical stage of nephrectomy specimens. In contrast to other researchers, our results on NSE as a tumor marker in RCC are disappointing.