[Prognostic characteristics of gallium-positive accumulation in the kidney with renal cell carcinoma by the tomographic whole-body Ga-67-citrate scan].

A frontal tomographic whole-body Ga-67-citrate scan was performed on 67 patients with renal cell carcinoma to clarify the characteristics of gallium uptake by the kidney in relation to the tumor stage and grade, clinical laboratory data and prognosis. Positive gallium uptake by the kidney in 32 patients correlated well with the clinicopathologically higher stage and grade of the tumor and with abnormal values in prognostic indexes in the blood such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate, CRP alpha 2 globulin, ferritin and copper. Gallium accumulation in pulmonary metastatic lesions was found in 13 of 21 patients and all cases with positive uptake by the pulmonary metastatic lesions belonged to the gallium-positive group in the kidney. Kaplan-Meier estimation of survival rate clearly demonstrated bad prognosis in this group. Since the sensitivity of the Ga-67 scan is low but the specificity is high, positive gallium uptake is indicative of an ominous clinical course and shorter survival in patients with renal cell carcinoma.