Photodynamic diagnosis and urinary porphyrin measurements after 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) administration in patients with renal cell carcinoma

Abstract

Protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) is synthesized from 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), accumulates at a high concentration in cancer tissue than normal tissue, and emits red fluorescence under blue light. Therefore, 5-ALA is currently used for photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) of bladder carcinoma. It is reported that the intensity of luminescence on the tumor correlate with grade of malignancy of bladder carcinoma. It is also reported that urine porphyrin measurement after 5-ALA administration may be useful for detecting urothelial carcinoma. In this study, we examined the usefulness of 5-ALA in renal cell carcinoma detection.