title: Cytokeratin 8/18 levels in patients with prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recently, tissue polypeptide-specific antigen (TPS), a cytokeratin 18 marker, was described to be discriminative between cancer of the prostate (CaP) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Cyfra 8/18, a marker which recognizes both cytokeratin 8 and 18 fragments, is discussed to improve sensitivity and specificity of TPS. We investigated whether Cyfra 8/18 serum concentration discriminates between patients with clinically localized CaP and BPH.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum Cyfra 8/18 levels were determined in patients with untreated CaP before radical prostatectomy (pT1-3pNoMo; n = 11) and with histologically confirmed BPH (n = 22). Cyfra 8/18 concentration was correlated to the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median Cyfra 8/18 level was 0.64 ng/ml in CaP patients and 0.57 ng/ml in BPH patients. This difference is statistically not significant (p = 0.91). Furthermore, no correlation to PSA levels could be established (CaP: r = 0.036; BPH: r = 0.09).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In contrast to a recent report we found the Cyfra 8/18 serum concentration to be a nondiscriminative parameter between CaP and BPH.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, RWTH Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Borchers
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brehmer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brauers
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jakse
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011470:Prostatic Hyperplasia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D007633:Keratins; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen