Urine test may help monitor disfiguring birthmarks

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:20:45 -0400

Vascular anomalies include both vascular malformations and vascular tumors (most commonly hemangiomas). Hemangiomas, found in about 10 percent of infants, occur when the cells lining blood vessels multiply abnormally. Hemangiomas grow rapidly in the first year of life, then usually shrink and disappear. But some grow large, causing obstruction, ulceration, and other problems. Vascular malformations occur during fetal development, usually growing in proportion to the child, but sometimes progress during adolescence or pregnancy, or after surgery or trauma, in rare instances becoming fatal.

Urine test tracks deadly birthmarks

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:20:52 -0400

Although not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration, results from simple urine tests are already being used to guide treatment of children with disfiguring birthmarks and adults with cancer. Urine tests, now given to all people as part of every physical, might someday provide doctors with valuable information difficult to obtain by other means.

"Many birthmarks, caused by abnormal growth of blood or lymphatic vessels, go away without treatment," notes Marsha Moses, associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston. "But some grow frightfully big before they start to regress - big enough to kill a child. Also, some birthmarks grow unseen, inside the body. We can look at the urine of these children and predict the extent and activity of the abnormalities. Such a capability gives physicians data they can use to treat these patients more effectively."

The same is true for cancer. Last year, Moses and her colleagues announced discovery of ADAM 12, a protein found in the urine of breast cancer patients. Increasing amounts of this protein in urine signal that the cancer is getting worse.

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Urine test may help monitor disfiguring birthmarks

Urine test tracks deadly birthmarks