Introduction & Objectives
No diagnostic blood biomarker for RCC is currently used in the clinical routine. Using a systems biology approach, we
previously developed a score based on circulating glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) that detected metastatic clear cell
renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with 92.6%, 93.7%, and 100% accuracy vs. healthy subjects using either plasma, urine, or
combined measurements in a validation cohort (Gatto et al., 2016, Cell Reports). It is still unknown if this test is
accurate in early stage RCC or other RCC histologies. The primary endpoint of this study was the area-under-thecurve
(AUC) in the use of plasma GAG scores to detect pre-operative RCC, any stage and any histology, versus healthy
individuals
