Background: 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. Materials and Methods: Serum cytokeratin-18 levels of 76 patients with bladder cancer and of 58 healthy people were determined. Tumor stage was T1 in 24 patients, T2 in 18 patients, T3 in 20 patients and T4 in 14 patients. The serum cytokeratin 18 levels in these cases were analyzed considering the tumor stage. Results: 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 T1, 33% for T2, 90% for T3 and 100% for T4. On the other hand, considering higher stage tumors (T3 and T4) only, the sensitivity was calculated as 94% , whereas it was 19% for lower stage tumors (T1 and T2). Conclusion: 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 T3 or higher staged tumors. This study indicated that cytokeratin-18 does not have any diagnostic value in lower stage bladder cancers.
Mohammadi Torbati P, Fard Esfahani P. Diagnostic Value of Serum Cytokeratin-18 in Dianosis of Urothelial Carcinoma. pajoohande 2007; 12 (1) :15-21 URL: http://pajoohande.sbmu.ac.ir/article-1-624-en.html