Serum and cellular biologic tumor markers in patients with urologic cancer.

During the past several years the development of radioimmunoassay and immunocytochemical techniques to detect small amounts of marker in the sera and cancer cells of cancer patients has made a significant impact on the diagnosis and management of certain cancers. Among these markers alpha-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin, and pregnancy specific beta-1 glycoprotein have been useful in the staging, detection of recurrence, prognosis, and management of testicular cancer. In this article the recent developments and future perspectives concerning these and other newer markers are discussed.