Clinical correlation between serum YKL-40 protein level and recurrence of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer

Background: To explore the clinical correlation between serum YKL-40 protein level and recurrence of nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Methods: Totally 76 NMIBC patients (including 34 patients with confirmed recurrence and 42 patients without recurrence during the 2-year post-operative follow-up) and 31 healthy volunteers were recruited in this study. Blood samples were collected early in the morning, and serum YKL-40 protein levels of all these patients were analysed by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Serum YKL-40 protein levels were significantly higher in NMIBC patients than in healthy controls (P<0.001). Meanwhile, serum YKL-40 protein levels were found to be significantly higher in patients with recurrent NMIBC than those without tumor recurrence (P=0.001). Conclusions: Serum YKL-40 protein can be a reliable molecular marker for the clinical diagnosis of NMIBC recurrence. In particular, it can inform the post-operative management.