title: Prognostic value of endocan in prostate cancer: clinicopathologic association between serum endocan levels and biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the diagnostic capability of serum endocan level in association with clinicopathologic features and its impact on biochemical progression-free survival in patients with prostate cancer (PCa).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 86 patients with localized prostate cancer were treated with open radical prostatectomy (RP). The control group included 80 patients who were referred to the urology outpatient clinic with normal rectal examination and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. The patients' characteristics, baseline PSA value, and serum endocan levels were recorded. The patients were followed up with the measurement of PSA concentration every 3 months during the first year, thereafter every 6 months until 5 years, then yearly after surgery. The primary endpoint of follow-up was the time of biochemical recurrence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median serum endocan levels were 3.14 ng/mL in the RP group and 2.98 ng/mL in the control group (p = 0.122). A total of 86 patients who underwent RP for PCa were divided into 2 groups based on a cutoff serum endocan level of 1.8 ng/mL. The distribution of Gleason score and biochemical failure rate were significantly higher in patients with serum endocan ≥1.8 ng/mL (p = 0.031 and p = 0.047). The biochemical recurrence-free time for endocan ≥1.8 ng/mL and <1.8 ng/mL were 38 and 56 months, respectively (p = 0.041). Spearman correlation analysis showed a linear relationship between endocan expression and Gleason score (p = 0.025, p = 0.511). Multivariate analysis revealed that elevated serum endocan level (≥1.8 ng/mL) was a significant predictor of biochemical progression-free survival (hazard ratio 2.44; 95% confidence interval 1.78-3.23; p = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current study indicates that endocan has a close relationship with tumor recurrence in PCa.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Istanbul Taksim Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul - Turkey.
authors.forename: Burak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arslan
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Istanbul Taksim Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul - Turkey.
authors.forename: Özkan
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Onuk
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Istanbul Taksim Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul - Turkey.
authors.forename: İsmet
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Hazar
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Istanbul Taksim Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul - Turkey.
authors.forename: Muammer
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aydın
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Istanbul Taksim Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul - Turkey.
authors.forename: Nusret Can
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Çilesiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Istanbul Taksim Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul - Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eroglu
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Istanbul Taksim Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul - Turkey.
authors.forename: Barış
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nuhoglu
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D060787:Neoplasm Grading / Q000379:methods; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000379:methods; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C101134:ESM1 protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011509:Proteoglycans; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen