Pseudouridine: a modified nucleoside as biological marker in malignant lymphomas.

An increased excretion of modified nucleosides has been observed in patients with malignant lymphomas. Using high performance liquid chromatography, we have determined the concentration of pseudouridine in the urine from 48 patients with malignant lymphomas. Elevated excretion of pseudouridine was observed in 50% of patients with histiocytic lymphoma, compared to 33% for patients with lymphocytic lymphoma and 13% for Hodgkin's lymphoma. When the patients were subdivided into clinical stages according to disease manifestation, no correlation could be found between level of excretion and the clinical stage. To estimate the prognostic relevance of pseudouridine excretion before treatment, we compared the levels from patients that were deceased due to lymphoma, with those living free from disease. The median observation time for the patients was 27 months. No prognostic value could be attributed to the initial excretion of pseudouridine.