The impact of transurethral resection of bladder tumour on serum levels of soluble E-cadherin.

Abstract

To evaluate soluble E-cadherin (sE-cadherin) as a potential tumour marker in patients with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder (previously shown to correlate with tumour grade, number of Ta/T1 tumours at presentation and a positive 3-month check cystoscopy) by assessing its serum concentration in relation to transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT). Samples of venous blood were obtained from 25 patients with bladder cancer: (i) before cystoscopy/TURBT: (ii) intraoperatively, during tumour resection; and (iii) on the first day after surgery. Levels of sE-cadherin were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Sixty-three serum samples from patients with TCC of the bladder were available for analysis (23 before, 21 during and 19 after surgery). Patients with G2/3 tumours had significantly higher median preoperative levels of sE-cadherin (16.37 and 13.03 microg/mL, respectively) than those with G1 tumours (9.493 microg/mL; P = 0.0164). There was no correlation between tumour stage and preoperative sE-cadherin concentration. The median concentrations of sE-cadherin were not significantly different before, during and after TURBT. This study confirmed the previous finding that higher levels of serum sE-cadherin correlate with increasing tumour grade but not with clinicopathological stage. Serum sE-cadherin levels are not significantly altered by TURBT in the immediate perioperative period.