Cholesteryl ester detection in a human urothelial carcinoma.

Numerous studies carried out on tumor cell lines, experimental tumors, and human tumors have shown an abnormal cholesterol metabolism that is reflected by an increase in intracellular cholesteryl esters due to an alteration in all the mechanisms that form the basis of regulation. A possible correlation between cholesterol esterification and tumor growth and progression can be inferred. Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy is a powerful tool for characterization of the lipid pattern of several human neoplasms on this basis, we have performed spectroscopic investigations on the lipid composition of cerebral, renal and prostatic neoplastic tissues. A constant finding was the detection of consistent amounts of in the neoplasms at highest grade of malignancy. In this connection, a case report on a high grade human urothelial carcinoma is shown here, where the presence of non negligible amount of cholesteryl esters is once again confirmed. Moreover, preliminary chromatographic data concerning fatty acid distribution in the same lesion confirm some similarities to a clear cell renal carcinoma characterized by the same grading