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

Objective To evaluate soluble E-cadherin (sE-cadherin) as a potential tumou r marker in patients with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder (previously shown to correlate with tumour grade, number of Ta/T1 tumours a t presentation and a positive 3-month check cystoscopy) by assessing its se rum concentration in relation to transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT). Patients and methods Samples of venous blood were obtained from 25 patients with bladder cancer: ii) before cystoscopy/TURBT: iii intraoperatively, du ring tumour resection: and (iii! on the first day after surgery. Levels of sE-cadherin were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results Sixty-three serum samples from patients with TCC of the bladder wer e available for analysis (23 before, 21 during and 19 after surgery). Patie nts with G2/3 tumours had significantly higher median preoperative levels o f sE-cadherin (16.37 and 13.03 mu g/mL, respectively) than those with G1 tu mours (9.493 mu g/mL; P= 0.0164). There was no correlation between tumour s tage and preoperative sE-cadherin concentration. The median concentrations of sE-cadherin were not significantly different before, during and after TU RBT. Conclusions This study confirmed the previous finding that higher levels of serum sE-cadherin correlate with increasing tumour grade but not with clin icopathological stage. Serum sE-cadherin levels are not significantly alter ed by TURBT in the immediate perioperative period.