High Concentration of Soluble Form of Vascular Endothelial Cadherin in Sera of Patients with Prostate Cancer

Background: For many years, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was used to screen prostate cancer (PC) patients. However, recent controversial findings have cast doubt on the accuracy of this biomarker for diagnostic and prognostic purposes, and have stimulated the search for new candidates. This study was conducted to determine the capability of a soluble adhesion molecule known as soluble vascular endothelial cadherin (sVEcadherin) or CD144 to distinguish prostate cancer or benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) patients from healthy individuals. Methods: Patients recently diagnosed as having PC (N=35) or BPH (N=35) and age-matched controls (N=30) were study enrolled. The concentration of sVE-cadherin and PSA was measured by ELISA. Gleason score in patients with PC was determined by pathological examination of tumor biopsies. Results: The concentration of sVE-cadherin in the serum of patients with PC and BPH was significantly higher than that in the healthy men. No association was found between the concentration of this soluble adhesion molecule and PSA values. Moreover, concentrations of sVE-cadherin did not correlate with Gleason scores in patients with PC. Conclusion: The high concentration of sVE-cadherin in our patients suggests that this bio-marker is a potentially useful tool to identify high-risk patients. However, further research in patients with PC and other pathological conditions is needed to support the efficacy of this molecule in PC screening.