Urinary hydroxyproline levels in patients with prostatic carcinoma.

In this study daily urinary hydroxyproline (HOP) levels were evaluated in 26 patients with advanced prostatic cancer and 15 patients with BPH. In patients with prostatic cancer--the ones with bone metastases proved by bone scanning--urinary HOP levels were found to be 69.58 mg/l/day and in those without metastases the levels amounted to 22.55 mg/l/day. In patients with BPH, serving as controls, urinary HOP was 12.80 mg/l/day. Urinary HOP Levels in cancer patients were statistically higher than in the control group. This difference was even more significant in patients with bone metastases. The method detects small metastatic foci of low activity, therefore it may be used also in smaller centres and for effective monitoring of therapy.