Follow-up study of enzymuria and β2 microglobulinuria during cis-platinum treatment

Twenty patients with epithelian ovarian cancer treated with DDP (cis-diammine-dichloroplatinum II) 50 mg/m2 were followed for 24 weeks in order to assess the nephrotoxicity of the drug. Ten patients received the total dose in one day with heavy osmotic hydration (Group A), and for the other 10 the dose was subdivided over 3 consecutive days (Group B). The renal tubular toxicity of DDP treatment was evaluated over a total of 120 courses. After the first DDP administration, there was a prompt, reversable and dose-dependent increase in the urinary excretion of beta 2 microglobulin with no difference between the two groups: Group A from 405 to 990 and Group B from 109 to 585 ng/mg creatinine. An increase always occurred during subsequent courses, but it was significantly lower in Group B after the sixth course, from 125 to 331 ng/mg creatinine. A similar pattern was found for the urinary excretion of N-acetyl-glucosaminidase (NAG), a lysosomal enzyme of tubular origin. The percentage fraction of urinary sodium excretion (FeNa%) increased after each dose of DDP; Group A from 0.82 to 2.30 and Group B from 0.68 to 2.53. This effect was reversible and it occurred to the same extent during the subsequent courses. There was no impairment of the glomerular filtration rate. Thus, enzymuria and beta 2 microglobulin excretion are a sensitive tool to reveal minor tubular damage. Their use to predict serious renal dysfunction in longitudinal studies, however, seems questionable.