Serum neuron specific enolase: can it be a tumour marker for renal cell carcinoma?

Neuron specific enolase (NSE) is an isoenzyme of the glycolytic enzyme enolase. It is not only a marker for all types of neurons but also for all neuroendocrine or paraneuronal cells and various malignant tumours, even of non-neuroendocrine types. We had studied serum NSE in 25 consecutive patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The study included 10 stage I, 3 stage II, 3 stage III-B and 9 stage IV-B patients. Both pretreatment and posttreatment levels were evaluated. Regardless of stage, overall we observed elevated levels of NSE in 80% (20/25) at diagnosis. After the appropriate treatment, according to the stage, there had been a statistically significant (p < 0.05) decrease in the serum levels in all stage I, II and III-B patients. The posttreatment values were not available for stage IV-B patients because they did not come for follow-up. The preliminary results of our study revealed that serum NSE may be considered as a useful marker in the evaluation and surveillance of RCC.