Urinary Excretion by Cancer Patients of the Nucleosides N 2 , N 2 -Dimethylguanosine, 1-Methylinosine, and Pseudouridine 2

Through high-pressure, high-resolution, liquid ion exchange chromatography, in association with such analytic tools as gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and high- and low-resolution mass spectrometry, the nucleosides N2,N2-dimethylguanosine, 1-methylinosine, and pseudouridine, were identified and quantitatively determined in the urine of normal control subjects and patients with cancer. These nucleosides were derived primarily from transfer RNA, and their excretion reflected the turnover of that macromolecule. In this preliminary study of several types of malignancies, we noted increased excretion of these compounds in at least half of the patients, as compared with normal controls.