[Proteinuria and beta 2-microglobulinuria in patients with tumors of the renal pelvis and ureter and in healthy persons from areas of endemic nephropathy].

Total proteinuria (SSA test) and beta-2-microglobulinuria (radial immunodiffusion and radioimmunoassay tests) were measured in 60 rural patients with histologically proven tumors of the renal pelvis and ureters and as many individually matched controls. The controls were the first neighbours of the same sex, age (+/- 2 yrs), profession and migratory history. Urinalysis was performed twice with an interval of nine years (in 1973/4 and 1982/3). As expected, both proteinuria and beta-2-microglobulinuria were more frequently elevated among the patients. However, these tests were very often positive among the controls as well. Thus, the prevalence rate of hyper-beta-2-microglobulinuria, as measured by the RIA method in 1982/3, was 26.3% in the control group. A high frequency of the tubular damage, as revealed by this test, among presumably healthy persons has been attributed to the fact that most upper urothelial tumor cases come from the Balkan endemic nephropathy foci where a significant proportion of inhabitants show signs of kidney affection.