[Diagnostic Value of serum cytokeratin-18 in dianosis of urothelial carcinoma]

ABSTRACT

To compare serum levels of cytokeratin-18 of patients with urinary bladder carcinoma with those of healthy controls and also to investigate if there would be any relationship between cytokeratin-18 levels and tumor stage, this study was performed. Serum cytokeratin-18 levels of 76 patients with bladder cancer and of 58 healthy people were determined. Tumor stage was T[1] in 24 patients, T[2] in 18 patients, T[3] in 20 patients and T[4] in 14 patients. The serum cytokeratin 18 levels in these cases were analyzed considering the tumor stage. Cytokeratin-18 level in the patient group was found to be significantly higher than that of control group [p<0.010]. However, when the levels of patients with different tumor stages were compared with control group, solely, the differences between those levels revealed to be not significant in patients with stage 1 and 2 tumors [p>0.05]. Regarding the cut off valueas 4.0 ng/mL, sensitivity and specificity for serum cutokeratin-18 were found to be 53% and 72%, respectively. Concerning the tumor stages, when sensitivity was calculated it was 8% for T[1], 33% for T[2], 90% for T[3] and 100% for T[4]. On the other hand, considering higher stage tumors [T[3] and T[4]] only, the sensitivity was calculated as 94%, whereas it was 19% for lower stage tumors [T[1] and T[2]]. It is obvious that serum cytokeratin-18 level increases in patients with urinary bladder carcinoma. However, as a tumor marker, it can be only useful in diagnosing the T[3] or higher staged tumors. This study indicated that cytokeratin-18 does not have any diagnostic value in lower stage bladder cancers