The determination of serum and urinary endocan concentrations in patients with bladder cancer

BackgroundEndocan (endothelial cell-specific molecule-1) is a proteoglycan and plays an important role in angiogenesis and inflammation. The aim of this study was to evaluate of serum and urinary concentrations of endothelial cell-specific molecule-1 in bladder cancer.MethodsThe study included 50 bladder cancer patients, 50 with urinary tract infection and 51 healthy volunteers. Serum and urinary endothelial cell-specific molecule-1 concentrations were measured with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.ResultsIn bladder cancer group, serum and urinary endothelial cell-specific molecule-1 concentrations were significantly higher than in the healthy subjects (P = 0.003 and P < 0.0001). Urinary endothelial cell-specific molecule-1 concentrations in cases with urinary tract infection were higher than in healthy volunteers (P = 0.002). There were no significant differences between bladder cancer and urinary tract infection groups in terms of serum and urinary endothelial cell-specific molecule-1 concentrations. U...