Blood Test May Help Detect Kidney Cancer Earlier

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has the potential for cure with surgery when diagnosed at an early stage. Kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) has been shown to be elevated in the plasma of RCC patients.

Renal cell carcinoma is a kidney cancer that originates in the lining of the proximal convoluted tubule, a part of the very small tubes in the kidney that transport primary urine. RCC is the most common type of kidney cancer in adults, responsible for approximately 90% to 95% of cases.


Scientists from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston, MA, USA) and their colleagues conducted a population-based prospective cohort study that included 190 patients who developed renal cell carcinoma within five years (cases) and 190 patients who remained healthy (controls). A risk model that included kidney injury molecule-1 significantly distinguished between cases and controls, compared with a risk model that included known risk factors of renal cell carcinoma, including age, sex, country, BMI and tobacco smoking status. Kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) was measured in in pre-diagnostic plasma.

The team reported that they found that patients who eventually developed renal cell carcinoma had double the concentration of kidney injury molecule-1 in prediagnostic plasma (incidence rate ratio = 1.71 (95% CI, 1.44-2.03). They compared a risk model including known risk factors of RCC (age, sex, country, body mass index and tobacco smoking status), with a risk model additionally including KIM-1 substantially improved discrimination between cases and controls (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.8 compared to 0.7). High plasma KIM-1 concentrations were also associated with poorer survival.

The authors concluded that plasma KIM-1 concentrations could predict RCC incidence up to five years prior to diagnosis and were associated with poorer survival. Rupal Bhatt, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist and the senior author of the study, said, “Renal cell carcinoma has the potential for cure with surgery when diagnosed at an early stage. Kidney injury molecule-1 has been shown to be elevated in the plasma of renal cell carcinoma patients.” The study was published on September 6, 2018, in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center