TY - JOUR AB - Human neutrophil gelatinase‑associated lipocalin (NGAL) is a glycoprotein present in a wide variety of tissues and cell types. It exists as a monomer of 25 kDa, a homodimer of 45 kDa or a heterodimer of 135 kDa (disulfide bound to latent matrix metalloproteinase‑9). NGAL is considered the biochemical gold standard for the early diagnosis of acute kidney injury and has attracted much attention as a diagnostic biomarker. NGAL has controversial (i.e. both beneficial and detrimental) effects on cellular processes associated with tumor development, such as cell proliferation, survival, migration, invasion and drug resistance. Therefore, the present review aimed at clarifying the role of NGAL in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Relevant studies of NGAL and RCC were searched in PubMed and relevant information about the structure, expression, function and mechanism of NGAL in RCC were summarized. Finally, the following conclusions could be drawn from the literature: i) NGAL can be detected in cancer tissues, serum and urine of patients with RCC; ii) NGAL is not a suitable diagnostic marker for early screening of RCC; iii) NGAL expression may be used to predict the prognosis of patients with RCC; and iv) Further research on NGAL may be helpful to decrease sunitinib resistance and find new treatment strategies for RCC. AD - Department of Urology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong 266003, P.R. China AU - Che,Kai AU - Han,Wenkai AU - Zhang,Mingxin AU - Niu,Haitao DA - 2021/02/01 DO - 10.3892/ol.2020.12409 IS - 2 JO - Oncol Lett KW - neutrophil gelatinase‑associated lipocalin renal cell carcinoma prognosis diagnosis biomarker mechanism PY - 2021 SN - 1792-1074 1792-1082 SP - 148 ST - Role of neutrophil gelatinase‑associated lipocalin in renal cell carcinoma (Review) T2 - Oncology Letters TI - Role of neutrophil gelatinase‑associated lipocalin in renal cell carcinoma (Review) UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2020.12409 VL - 21 ER -