[Immunohistochemical demonstration of L- and M2-pyruvate kinase in primary renal cell carcinomas and their metastases].

Seventeen renal cell carcinomas (RCC) were classified histologically and investigated for their expression of L- and M2-pyruvate kinase (PK) immunohistochemically. Using monoclonal antibodies we were able to demonstrate L-PK within 15 RCC and two metastases (in thyroid gland and bone) after fixation with aceton and paraffin embedding. In normal renal tissue the enzyme was localized within proximal tubules selectively. No enzyme reaction of L-PK could be demonstrated in renal oncocytoma, thyroid carcinoma, and in carcinomas of renal pelvis and lung. In contrast to this the M2-PK was detectable in all tumors and metastases investigated in this study. The results presented in this paper are able to show that (1) RCC derive from the proximal renal tubules, but not the renal oncocytoma, (2) the detection of L-PK may be helpful for identification of metastases of RCC even if they are undifferentiated and (3) there is an enzyme shift from L-PK to M2-PK within tumor cells of RCC resulting in alteration of glucose utilization from energy supply to syntheses of substrates essential for tumor cells.