Objective: To measure plasma levels of osteopontin in patients with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder, and to determine if osteopontin levels relate to disease stage.
Patients and methods: Blood samples were collected from 72 consecutive patients with TCC. Clinical data were obtained from medical record reviews. Patients were divided into subgroups based on disease status (active vs inactive) and clinical and pathological stage of TCC (tumour, nodes and metastases staging system). Osteopontin levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: Plasma osteopontin levels were higher in patients with active TCC than in controls (P = 0.035). Plasma osteopontin levels were not significantly different between patients with active and inactive TCC, but were higher in patients with metastases than in patients with active, clinically organ-confined TCC (P = 0.021).
Conclusions: Plasma osteopontin levels increase with tumour stage in TCC of the bladder. These findings suggest that larger, more extended studies on plasma osteopontin levels in patients with TCC are warranted.