Soluble CD138/Syndecan-1 Increases in the Sera of Patients with Moderately Differentiated Bladder Cancer

Background: CD138/Syndecan-1 (Sdc-1) is expressed on the tumor and stromal cells of invasive bladder carcinoma. CD138/Sdc-1 shedding from the cell surface is associated with the invasive phenotype in lung and breast cancers. Patients and Methods: Soluble CD138/Sdc-1 was measured in the sera of 86 bladder cancer patients and 57 healthy individuals by a commercial ELISA assay. Results: Soluble Sdc-1 was increased in the sera of patients with bladder cancer (138.42 +/- 81.85 vs. 86.48 +/- 82.58 ng/ml, p = 0.0003). Patients aged over 70 years had higher levels of CD138/Sdc-1 in their sera (159.7 +/- 15.77 vs. 124.5 +/- 9.99 ng/ml, p = 0.025), and soluble Sdc-1 levels were higher in the sera of patients with moderately differentiated tumors compared to poorly differentiated ones (170.47 +/- 85.06 vs. 101.79 +/- 68.24 ng/ml, p = 0.01). The soluble Sdc-1 level was higher in muscle-invasive (154.45 +/- 83.60 vs. 89.9 +/- 55.02 ng/ml) but not lymphatic-invasive (106.25 +/- 52.10 vs. 123.43 +/- 63.76 ng/ml) tumors (p = 0.027 and 0.45, respectively). A non-significant trend of soluble Sdc-1 increase in the sera of male patients compared to female patients was observed (145.38 +/- 85.47 vs. 110.20 +/- 59.04 ng/ml, p = 0.054). Conclusion: The elevated levels of soluble CD138/Sdc-1 in older bladder cancer patients and those with muscular invasion sheds some light on the mechanisms of the disease invasion. (C) 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel