Serum beta-2-microglobulin levels in urological cancer.

Serum beta-2-microglobulin levels were measured in patients with renal, vesical and prostatic cancer. Measurements were made only on samples with a serum creatinine less than or equal to 105 mumol./l. to eliminate the possibility of elevated beta-2-microglobulin being a result of impaired renal function. This criterion eliminated 28 to 50 per cent of the patients with bladder cancer and 73 per cent of those who had undergone nephrectomy for renal carcinoma, which, obviously, limits the value of beta-2-microglobulin measurement for the surveillance in these cancers. Beta-2-microglobulin values in patients with prostatic cancer were seldom increased to more than 3.0 mg./l. In bladder cancer patients with normal serum creatinine the frequency of an elevated serum beta-2-microglobulin increased with the increase in tumor stage.