Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) levels in transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder resected from 38 patients were examined by ELISA. TP levels in high-grade and invasive cancer were significantly higher than those in low-grade and superficial cancer, respectively. No significant differences in the DPD levels were observed among grades and stages, but the DPD/TP ratio was significantly lower in grade 3 tumor than in grade 1. These results demonstrated that 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine seemed to be useful for managing patients with grade 3 cancer. The present study also suggested that we might be able to exclude cases of bladder cancer in which 5-fluorouracil group medicines would be inappropriate candidates in treatment options by measuring both TP and DPD levels in the tumor.
Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel