Abstract:
The present invention relates to a kit for assaying the activity of the human arylsulphatase or its isozymes, including 4-MUS and 4-MU. The kit can be used for initial screening, therapeutic effect monitoring and recurrence inspecting of human cancers.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a kit for assaying cancer or other diseases. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Cancer is highly lethal. One factor to improve the cancer survival rate is early detection. However, current early detection assays and effective treatments for cancer have many limitations. 
         [0003]    The incidence and development of cancer are highly correlated to irregular expression of enzymes. During cancerization of cells, the activities of enzymes and their isozymes related to cell proliferation are up-regulated. Arylsulphatase (ARS) and its isozymes that can hydrolyze arylsulphates are related to detoxification in organism. It is generally agreed that the increase of serum ARS activity is related to inflammation that is referable to distinguish tumor or non-tumor. The determination of the ARS concentration in serum can provide very useful information for clinical diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of the disease. 
         [0004]    Some studies showed that arylsulphatase (ARS) and its isozymes are hydrolases that can catalyze the hydrolysis of arylsulphate, which have been proved to be more active in serum of patients with lung cancer than in normal human serum and their activities are reduced by treatment. The increase of activity of lysosome enzymes including ARS can be used for effective diagnosis and therapeutic effect monitoring (Wozniak, A., et al, Neoplasma, 2002, 49(1): p. 10-5). Moreover, the activities of ARSA and ARSB in different histological types of human primary and secondary tumors increase significantly in almost all the primary lung cancers (Gasa, S., et al, Cancer Res, 1980, 40(10): p. 3804-9). The ARS activities in breast cancer patients are 2-5 times of those in healthy women. The activity is reduced to normal level after surgery or chemotherapy. The activity of enzyme is correlated to the size of tumor and its metastasis (Rozwodowska, M., et al, Pol Merkuriusz Lek, 2004, 17(99): p. 252-4). It is also found that the activity of sulphatase in breast cancer tissue is roughly double of that in normal tissue (Chetrite, G. S., et al., Anticancer Res, 2005, 25(4): p. 2827-30). Moreover, it is found that ARS activity in stomach cancer, rectum cancer, breast cancer and skin cancer is increased by using a non-specific substrate (Dzialoszynski, L. M., et al, Clin. Chim. Acta, 1966, 14(4): p. 450-3). 
         [0005]    4-methyl umbelliferone sulfate (4-MUS) can be used as a suitable substrate for examining the activity of ARS (Uchimura, K., et al, Methods In Enzymology, 2006, 416: p. 243). Furthermore, 4-MUS has better Km, Vmax, sensitivity and stability than other substrates, and its hydrolysate 4-methyl umbelliferone (4-MU) has higher fluorescence in alkaline solution, which is convenient for detecting. The present techniques all examine either ARS A or ARS B, but the present invention is to examine both ARS A and B enzyme activity together in one assay because 4-MUS cannot distinguish A/B (Sherman, W. R., et al, Biochem J., 1967, 102: p. 905). 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    According to the biochemical reaction of 4-MUS catalyzed by ARS enzymes, based on the principle of resultant 4-MU in reaction solution reflecting enzyme activity, we examine the fluorescence intensity of 4-MU by 365 nm excitation and at wavelength of 445-450 nm, and draw standard curve based on 4-MU standard product with the known concentration so as to quantificationally examine the ARS activity in serum/urine samples. The initial screening, therapeutic effect monitoring and recurrence inspecting are carried out accordingly. 
         [0007]    The present invention relates to a kit for assaying cancer, including 4-MUS and 4-MU. Preferably, the concentration of 4-MUS in the kit is 1-10 mM, the concentration of 4-MU is 100-5000 nM. The buffer in the kit is sodium acetate, with preferable concentration in the range of 1-10000 mM, pH value between 1 and 14, more preferable concentration in the range of 10-1000 mM, pH value between 2 and 14. The stop solution in the kit is mixed solution of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate or mixed solution of sodium carbonate and glycin, with preferable concentration in the range of 1-50000 mM, pH value between 1 and 14, more preferable concentration in the range of 10-5000 mM, pH value between 7 and 12. The precipitator in the kit is lead acetate, with preferable concentration in the range of 1%-90% (w/v), more preferable concentration in the range of 10%-40% (w/v). 
         [0008]    The present invention can be used for screening, therapeutic effect monitoring and recurrence inspecting: 
         [0009]    Screening in normal people; diagnosis in patients with symptoms and distinguishing benign tumors and malign tumors; determining patient&#39;s conditions and evaluating treatment plans; monitoring the curative effects of tumors; predicting recurrence and prognosis. 
         [0010]    The tumors include: lung cancer, stomach cancer, ovary cancer, pancreas cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer, oesophagus cancer, intestines cancer, nasopharynx cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, lymph cancer, cholecyst cancer, ampullae cancer, penis cancer, testicle cancer, throat cancer, hypothyroid cancer, prostate cancer, palace cancer, colorectal cancer, bile duct cancer, parenchyma sarcoma, spermatogonium tumor, Ewing&#39;s sarcoma, leukaemia, osteosarcoma, encephaloma and malignant lymphoma. More preferably are lung cancer, stomach cancer, ovary cancer, pancreas cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer, oesophagus cancer, kidney cancer, lymph cancer, colorectal cancer, leukaemia and malignant lymphoma. 
         [0011]    The advantages of the present invention (compared with ELISA): 
         [0012]    Because the reaction between enzymes and substrates is highly effective and consistent, the determination of enzyme activity is better than antigen-antibody reaction technique, i.e. without false positive results. At the same time, the determination of enzyme activity can better reflect the biological functions of the enzyme in tumorigenesis, i.e. the experiment results are more authentic. And the product to be examined has special excitation and detection wavelength, making the whole experiment operable. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  shows the principle of the invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  shows the impact of anticoagulant agents ( FIG. 2-1  to  FIG. 2-3 ) on the activity of human serum arylsulphatase or its isozymes. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  shows the impact of preservatives on the activity of human serum arylsulphatase or its isozymes. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is the standard curve of 4-MU and fluorescence reading. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is the [4-MU]-time curve to determine reaction time with 3 serum samples. 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is the [4-MU]-time curve of serum samples at different diluting conditions. 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is the comparison between activities of arylsulphatase or its isozymes in normal human serum and serum from patients with cancer such as lung cancer. 
           [0020]      FIG. 8  is the comparison between activities of arylsulphatase or its isozymes in normal human whole blood samples and those from patients with cancer such as lung cancer. 
           [0021]      FIG. 9  shows sensitivity-specificity corresponding to the activities of arylsulphate or its isozymes in normal human sera and sera from patients with cancer such as lung cancer. 
           [0022]      FIG. 10  is the comparison between activities of arylsulphatase or its isozymes in normal human urine samples and those from patients with cancer. 
           [0023]      FIG. 11  shows the sensitivity of activity increases of arylsulphatase or its isozymes in urine samples from patients with different types of cancers. 
           [0024]      FIG. 12  is the comparison between activities of arylsulphatase or its isozymes in normal human urine samples and those from treated patients with cancer. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0025]    (1) Determination of Reaction Parameters 
         [0026]    1 Reaction Parameters 
         [0027]    1.1 Impact of anticoagulant agent on the enzyme activity ( FIG. 2 ) 
         [0028]    From the  FIG. 2 , with the increase of concentration of anticoagulant agent: 
         [0029]    *EDTA did not seem to affect the ARS activity ( FIG. 2-1 ) 
         [0030]    *sodium heparin ( FIG. 2-2 ) and sodium citrate ( FIG. 2-3 ) have dramatic effect on the ARS activity where it is reduced with the increase of dosages 
         [0031]    To ensure activities of the enzyme, we choose serum samples without anticoagulant agent treatment as experiment samples. 
         [0032]    1.2 Impact of preservatives on the enzyme activity ( FIG. 3 ) 
         [0033]    From  FIG. 3 : 
         [0034]    *under preservative condition at room temperature, the activity of the serum ARS enzyme is dramatically reduced every day, with about 10% reduction each day compared to the previous day 
         [0035]    *at 4° C., the activity of the serum ARS enzyme is insignificantly changed with time 
         [0036]    *by freezing-thawing for 10 times, the activity is reduced by about 20% 
         [0037]    For not affecting the activity of enzyme, we choose the temperature of −20° C. 
         [0038]    1.3 Reaction Parameters determined by Basic Enzyme Experiments: 
         [0039]    *OD-[P] is linear 
         [0040]    *[P]-time is linear in early phase 
         [0041]    *initial reaction speed v-[E] is linear (if [S]&gt;&gt;[E]0) 
         [0042]    1.3.1 Determination of OD-[4-MU] standard curve: in order to ensure the fluorescence reading is linear with 4-MU concentrations,  FIG. 4  was drawn (We obtained consistent results in repeated experiments): 
         [0043]    1.3.2 Determination of [4-MU]-time curve: 
         [0044]    We selected 3 serum samples to determine the optimal reaction time, the result shows ( FIG. 5 ): the reading of [4-MU] is linear when the enzyme reaction time is within 36 h; 
         [0045]    In order to ensure values of [4-MU] readings from experimental measurements are within linear range and are obvious different from background (comparative) value, the reaction time is set as 24 h. Therefore, all our experiments using serum samples described below used 24 hours as the reaction time if not specified elsewhere. 
         [0046]    1.3.3 [4-MU]-time curve of serum samples at different diluting conditions ( FIG. 6 ) 
         [0047]    In order to ensure the dilution ratio of serum samples is within linear range, the ratio of 1:8 is selected, then 20 μL of which is added to the reaction system. 
         [0048]    2 Determination of reaction parameters: the serum is diluted to ⅛, take 20 μl for enzymatic reaction, fluorescence reading is measured after 24 h, and at the same time, OD-[4-MU] standard curve is determined, finally (OD sample -OD control (water)) is converted into [4-MU] 
         [0049]    (2) Experimental Steps: 
         [0050]    1 Serum sample examination 
         [0051]    Take 5 mL blood into a vacuum cuvette with separation gel and without anticoagulant agent, standing for about 30 min at temperature, then centrifugate it with horizontal centrifugal machine for 10 min (3000 r/min). The supernatant serum is sucked/poured out to a 1.5 mL EP tube/or other type of unused tubule, cool it at −20° C. before use. 
         [0052]    In activity determination, take 50μl serum into 350 μl 100 mM sodium acetate buffer (pH 5.4). 
         [0053]    20 μl described diluted serum is added to 180 μl reaction system (containing 100 mM sodium acetate, pH 5.4, 8 mM 4-MUS). 
         [0054]    It is placed in a thermal container (37° C.) for 24 h, then the reaction is stopped by adding 1 ml stop solution (500 mM sodium carbonate/sodium bicarbonate buffer, pH 10.7), finally fluorescence of each sample is determination (365 nm excitation, recording 445-450 nm emitting light value). 
         [0055]    Standard sample 4-MU (pure product) is used for OD-[4-MU] standard curve, and serum reaction readings are converted according to this standard curve to yield [4-MU] for each reaction. 
         [0056]    Based on the described [4-MU], the activity of the serum ARS or its isozymes is determined as the amount of 4-MU produced by 1 L serum protein in 1 minute. 
         [0057]    2 Urine Sample Examination 
         [0058]    Take about 3 mL morning urine sample into sterilized EP tube. In case of with impurity, it is centrifugated for 10 min (3000 r/min) to remove impurity and stored at −20° C. 
         [0059]    In activity determination, take 40 μL urine sample with micropipettor into reaction tube, add 40 μL precipitator (30% lead acetate solution), mix well, let the samples stand at 4° C. for 5 min. It is then centrifugated for 5 min at room temperature (3000 r/min). 
         [0060]    The supernatant is taken away with micropipettor. Add 40 μL substrate preparation (containing 100 mM sodium acetate, pH 5.4, 8 mM 4-MUS) to the tube, mix well, leave no coagulum, cultivate for at 37° C. 30-40 min, the reaction time is recorded as T. Thereafter, the reaction tube is quickly placed on ice, added by 200 μL stop solution (500 mM sodium carbonate/sodium bicarbonate buffer, pH 10.7), mix well. The reaction tube is centrifugated for 1 min at room temperature(6000-8000 r/min). 
         [0061]    Take 200 μL post-reaction mixed urine sample and zero control solution (100 mM sodium acetate buffer, pH 5.4) for fluorescence determination (365 nm excitation, recording 445-450 nm emitting light value). 
         [0062]    Standard sample 4-MU (pure product) is used for OD-[4-MU] standard curve, and urine reaction readings are converted according to this standard curve to yield [4-MU] for each reaction. 
         [0063]    According to the above [4-MU], the activity of the urine ARS or its isozymes is determined as the amount of 4-MU produced by 1 L urine protein in 1 minute. 
         [0064]    (3) Data Processing I: 
         [0065]    Measure the standard sample in buffers as described above (containing sodium acetate and stop solution component in same concentration), i.e. OD of 4-MU (0.003 mM), recorded as ODs 
         [0066]    Determine the OD of control reaction (reaction of 20 μl sodium acetate buffer to replace serum/reaction of 40 μl sodium acetate buffer to replace urine), which is recorded as ODO 
         [0000]      ( ODn−OD 0)/[4− MU]n=ODs/[ 4- MU]s    
         [0000]      [4- MU]n= ( ODn−D 0)*0.003 mM/ ODs    
         [0067]    It is possible to calculate the amount of product 4-MU produced from reaction of sample n, i.e. amount of substrate 4-MUS joining the reaction. 
         [0068]    It is possible to obtain the activity of sample n, i.e. molar number of substrate that can be converted by 1 L enzymatic protein in Imin. 
         [0069]    The equation is [4-MU]n/(L*24*60) 
         [0070]    The unit is converted into nmol/min/L 
         [0071]    Data Processing II: 
         [0072]    Measure the standard sample in buffers as described above (containing sodium acetate and stop solution component in same concentration), i.e. OD of 4-MU (0.003 mM), recorded as ODs 
         [0073]    Determine the OD of control reaction (reaction of 20 μl sodium acetate buffer to replace serum/reaction of 40 μl sodium acetate buffer to replace urine), which is recorded as OD 0   
         [0000]      ( ODn−OD 0)/[4- MU]n=ODs/[ 4- MU]s    
         [0000]      [4- MU]n= ( ODn−OD 0)*0.003 mM /ODs    
         [0074]    It is possible to calculate the amount of product 4-MU produced from reaction of sample n, i.e. amount of substrate 4-MUS joining the reaction. 
         [0075]    Determine the protein amount of sample n: detected with bovine serum albumin (BSA) as control, ultraviolet spectrophotometer at λ=280 nm to obtain the protein concentration of sample n that is recorded as Mn, from which the protein amount of sample n can be calculated as Mgn. 
         [0076]    It is possible to obtain the specific activity of sample n, i.e. molar number of substrate that can be converted by 1 mg enzymatic protein in 1 min. 
         [0077]    As formula: [4-MU]n/(Mgn*24*60) 
         [0078]    The unit is converted into nmol/min/mg 
         [0079]    Data Processing III: 
         [0080]    The fluorescence values of 4-MU standard samples B1, B2, B3 and B4 are used as ordinate(y), the corresponding concentration values of standard solution (in nM) as abscissa (x), draw the standard curve through the origin: y=kx 
         [0081]    Calculate net fluorescence value of the samples Ai′=Ai−A0, which is substituted into the above equation as y to obtain concentration of 4-MU in post-reaction solution, i.e. [4-MU]i, in nM 
         [0000]    
       
         
           
             
               
                 [ 
                 
                   4 
                   - 
                   MU 
                 
                 ] 
               
               i 
             
             = 
             
               
                 
                   A 
                   i 
                 
                 - 
                 
                   A 
                   0 
                 
               
               k 
             
           
         
       
     
         [0000]    Enzymatic activities of samples are calculated as below: 
         [0000]    
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     [ 
                     
                       4 
                       - 
                       MU 
                     
                     ] 
                   
                   i 
                 
                 × 
                 
                   10 
                   
                     - 
                     3 
                   
                 
                  
                 
                     
                 
                  
                 
                   µmol 
                   · 
                   
                     L 
                     
                       - 
                       1 
                     
                   
                 
                 × 
                 240 
                  
                 
                     
                 
                  
                 
                   µ 
                    
                   L 
                 
               
               
                 T 
                  
                 
                     
                 
                  
                 min 
                 × 
                 40 
                  
                 
                     
                 
                  
                 µL 
               
             
              
             
               ( 
               
                 
                   suitable 
                    
                   
                       
                   
                    
                   for 
                    
                   
                     
                         
                     
                      
                     
                         
                     
                   
                    
                   urine 
                    
                   
                       
                   
                    
                   sample 
                 
                 , 
                 
                   in 
                    
                   
                     
                         
                     
                      
                     
                         
                     
                   
                    
                   which 
                    
                   
                       
                   
                    
                   240 
                    
                   
                       
                   
                    
                   µL 
                    
                   
                     
                         
                     
                      
                     
                         
                     
                   
                    
                   is 
                 
               
                
               
                   
               
             
           
         
       
     
         [0000]    the total volume of post-reaction solution, 40 uL is initial urine volume) 
         [0000]    
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     [ 
                     
                       4 
                       - 
                       MU 
                     
                     ] 
                   
                   i 
                 
                 × 
                 
                   10 
                   
                     - 
                     3 
                   
                 
                  
                 
                     
                 
                  
                 
                   µmol 
                   · 
                   
                     L 
                     
                       - 
                       1 
                     
                   
                 
                 × 
                 240 
                  
                 
                     
                 
                  
                 µL 
               
               
                 T 
                  
                 
                     
                 
                  
                 min 
                 × 
                 0.4 
                  
                 
                     
                 
                  
                 µL 
               
             
              
             
               ( 
               
                 
                   suitable 
                    
                   
                       
                   
                    
                   for 
                    
                   
                     
                         
                     
                      
                     
                         
                     
                   
                    
                   serum 
                    
                   
                       
                   
                    
                   sample 
                 
                 , 
                 
                   in 
                    
                   
                     
                         
                     
                      
                     
                         
                     
                   
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                   which 
                    
                   
                       
                   
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                   µL 
                    
                   
                       
                   
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                   is 
                 
               
                
               
                   
               
             
           
         
       
     
         [0000]    the total volume of post-reaction solution, 0.4 μL is initial serum volume, i.e. add 4 μL 1/10 diluting serum) 
         [0082]    Value unit can be converted into U/L, in which 1U=1 μmol·min −1    
         [0083]    (4) Instruments for the Experiments: 
         [0084]    Horizontal centrifugal machine: Heraeus Labofuge 400R Instrument for examination: it can detect fluorescence signal at 365 nm of excitation wavelength and 445-450 nm of detecting wavelength 
         [0085]    Electro-thermostatical incubator: Tianjin Zhonghuan Experimental Circuit Ltd. 
         [0086]    Vortex shaker: IKA MS2 Minishaker Pipetman: Gilson 1 mL, 200 μl, 20 μl 
         [0087]    (5) Experimental Data: 
         [0088]    1. Measurement of the ARS activity in each serum sample from normal human (15 cases) and patients with cancer (7 cases of lung cancer, 1 case of stomach cancer, 3 cases of ovary cancer, 1 case of pancreas cancer, 1 case of breast cancer) is repeated for 3 times. Refer to  FIG. 7  for all the data. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Normal 
                   
                 Cancer 
                   
               
               
                   
                 No. 
                 Activity 
                 Type 
                 Activity 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 1 
                 122.9998 
                 Lung cancer 
                 128.5012 
               
               
                   
                 2 
                 122.6639 
                   
                 172.172 
               
               
                   
                 3 
                 77.29412 
                   
                 282.4619 
               
               
                   
                 4 
                 96.07889 
                   
                 204.933 
               
               
                   
                 5 
                 156.0704 
                   
                 203.5849 
               
               
                   
                 6 
                 184.3498 
                   
                 139.4111 
               
               
                   
                 7 
                 136.4092 
                   
                 131.9811 
               
               
                   
                 8 
                 111.0366 
                 Ovary cancer 
                 182.2981 
               
               
                   
                 9 
                 120.3559 
                   
                 103.233 
               
               
                   
                 10 
                 67.19366 
                   
                 102.8881 
               
               
                   
                 11 
                 97.60397 
                 Breast cancer 
                 137.2793 
               
               
                   
                 12 
                 54.82057 
                 Stomach cancer 
                 112.9829 
               
               
                   
                 13 
                 74.34256 
                 Pancreas cancer 
                 118.5946 
               
               
                   
                 14 
                 74.15009 
               
               
                   
                 15 
                 143.6181 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0089]    2. Average of the ARS activity in serum samples from normal human and patients with cancer 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Serum from 
               
               
                   
                   
                 patients with 
               
               
                   
                 Normal human serum 
                 cancer 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Number of sample 
                 15 
                 13 
               
               
                 Average activity 
                 109.2658 ± 36.6046 
                 155.4093 ± 51.9724 
               
               
                 (nmol/min/L) 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0090]    T-test is completed for normal human serum (15 samples in total) and serum from patients with cancer (13 samples in total) to obtain p=0.005415&lt;0.01. 
         [0091]    3. Refer to  FIG. 2  for the sensitivity-specificity correlation corresponding to experimental data. 
         [0092]    4. Determination of standard: 
         [0093]    According to the correlation of sensitivity-specificity, we choose cutoff values with relative high sensitivity and specificity as standards. 
         [0094]    5. Measurement of the ARS activity in each urine sample from normal human (54 cases) and patients with cancer (12 cases of lung cancer, 10 cases of stomach cancer, 13 cases of colorectal cancers 9 cases of oesophagus cancer, 5 cases of kidney cancer and 5 cases of breast cancer) is repeated for 3 times. Refer to  FIG. 10  for all the data. 
         [0095]    As the Figure shows, the activities of arylsulphatase in urine samples from patients with cancer are dramatically higher than that in normal human, indicating that urine ARS activity can be used as a marker for identifying tumor from normal samples. 
         [0096]    6. The activities of arylsulphatase in urine samples from patients with cancer(57 cases of oesophagus cancer, 83 cases of stomach cancer, 79 cases of colorectal cancer, 51 cases of kidney cancer, 63 cases of bladder, 211 cases of lung cancer, 76 cases of liver cancer, 107 cases of breast cancer, 91 cases of ovary cancer, 28 cases of hematopoietic tumor) are examined, the sensitivities in different cancer types (true positive cases/(true positive cases+false positive cases)) are shown in  FIG. 11 . 
         [0097]    Among many urine samples from patients with different types of cancers examined, the average sensitivity of the arylsulphatase activities is not less than 80%, indicating that abnormal increases of the ARS activities in urine samples are common in patients with cancer. 
         [0098]    7. Measurement of the ARS activity in each urine sample from normal human (29 cases) and cancer patients after treatments (7 cases of lung cancer, 9 cases of oesophagus cancer, 9 cases of liver cancer, 2 cases of kidney cancer, 3 cases of ovary cancer, 1 case of hypopharynx cancer and 2 cases of hematopoietic tumor) is repeated for 3 times. Refer to  FIG. 12  for all the data. 
         [0099]    We observed that in cancer patients after therapeutic treatments the urine ARS activity was dramatically reduced to the level close to that of normal controls ( FIG. 12 ). Therefore, the change in the ARS activity levels in urine samples can be used for therapeutic effect monitoring for cancer patients. If the treatment is effective, ARS activity value should be reduced than that before treatment till close to the level of normal people. The change in the ARS activity level in urine samples can also be used for monitoring cancer reoccurrence in patients after treatments.