Endoglin (CD105) as a urinary and serum marker of prostate cancer

We have previously shown that endoglin (CD105) is upregulated in prostatic fluid of men with large volume prostate cancer. We chose to assess endoglin levels in urine and serum from men with prostate cancer or at increased risk for the disease: Urine samples were collected after digital rectal examination (DRE) from 99 men whose cancer status was confirmed by biopsy, and serum samples were collected from 20 men without prostate cancer at low risk for the disease and from 69 men diagnosed with prostate cancer that subsequently underwent radical prostatectomy (30 pT2, 39 pT3). Endoglin levels were assessed by ELISA. Urinary endoglin was elevated in men with biopsy-positive prostate cancer compared to biopsy-negative men (p = 0.0014). Urinary endoglin levels in men with prostate cancer correlated with radical prostatectomy tumor volume. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.72 for urinary endoglin and 0.50 for serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA; sensitivity for cancer detection 73%, specificity 63%). There were no differences in serum endoglin between normal and cancer cases, but there were increases in serum endoglin in non-organ confined (NOC, pT3+) versus organ-confined (OC, pT2) cases (p = 0.0004). The area under the ROC curve was 0.75 for serum endoglin and 0.63 for PSA for predicting NOC status, with a sensitivity of 67% and a specificity of 80%. In conclusion, elevations in post-DRE urinary endoglin suggest there may be value in further studying endoglin as a urinary biomarker of prostate cancer. Endoglin levels in both urine and serum may aid in prostate cancer detection and prognostication. (C) 2008 Wiley-Liss. Inc.