Evaluation of urinary proepithelin as a potential biomarker for bladder cancer detection and prognosis in Egyptian patients

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Selmy, Mohamed A.^a | Ibrahim, Gehan H.^{a; *} | El Serafi, Taher I.^a | Ghobeish, Ammar A.^b

Affiliations: [a] Department of Medical Biochemistry, Ismailia, Egypt | [b] Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Gehan Hussein Ibrahim, M.D., Medical Biochemistry department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, 41511, Ismailia, Egypt. Tel.: +20 12 71 72 075; Fax: +20 64 32 08 543; E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected].

Abstract: Background/Aim:Proepithelin is a growth factor that may play a critical role in bladder cancer. Its over-expression in urine of bladder cancer patients gave us the impetus to evaluate its potential suitability as a biomarker for bladder cancer diagnosis and/or prognosis. Methods:proepithelin was estimated in 86 voided urine samples, including 59 bladder cancer patients and 27 healthy volunteers using quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique. Urinary proepithelin level was expressed in ng/100 mg creatinine. Results:Urinary proepithelin was significantly higher in bladder cancer patients compared to control subjects (means: 17.5 ± 10 and 8.9 ± 3.5 ng/100 mg creatinine, respectively; p < 0.001), and the test sensitivity and specificity to detect the presence of bladder cancer were 74.6 and 85.2%, respectively. Furthermore, patients with low-grade/non-muscle invasive stages bladder cancer showed significantly lower urinary proepithelin compared to high-grade/non-muscle invasive stages and high-grade/invasive stages ones (means: 11.6 ± 9, 20.2 ± 8.1 and 23.8 ± 11.9 ng/100 mg creatinine, respectively; p= 0.005 and 0.002, respectively). Conclusions:This preliminary study suggests that urinary proepithelin may be considered as a non-invasive, sensitive, and specific urine-based test for bladder cancer diagnosis and/or prognosis.

Keywords: Proepithelin, bladder cancer, cancer detection, biomarker, invasion

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-2010-0186

Journal: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 163-170, 2010