Serum endocan levels before and after surgery on low-grade gliomas

Relation of Endocan Serum Levels with Patient Characteristics and Morphological Features of Uterine Fibroids: A Case-Control Study

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to compare the serum endocan levels of patients with uterine fibroids and the healthy control group.

DESIGN

A case-control study was designed. Participants/Materials: The study group includes women diagnosed with uterine fibroids, and the control group includes healthy women.

SETTING

The study was conducted at a tertiary education and research hospital with 130 women (uterine fibroid group, n = 65; control group, n = 65).

METHODS

Serum endocan levels were determined in the study and control groups using the ELISA method. The number of uterine fibroids was identified, and the volume of uterine fibroids was calculated with ellipsoid formula by ultrasonography. The primary outcome parameter was serum endocan levels in patients with uterine fibroids and healthy control groups. Second, it is aimed to determine the distribution of the serum endocan level of patients according to uterine fibroid number, volume, and clinical presentation.

RESULTS

The mean serum endocan level of patient with uterine fibroid was 145.18 ± 169.86 (median: 94.10; Q25-Q75%: 54.50-116.50) pg/mL; it was 88.94 ± 54.21 (median: 76.9; Q25-Q75%: 64.20-152.65) pg/mL in the control group (p = 0.016). According to ROC analysis, cutoff value of the endocan level for uterine fibroid was determined as ≥133.1 pg/mL. For the cutoff value of 133.1 pg/mL, sensitivity was 36.92%, specificity was 89.23%, positive predictive value was 77.40%, and negative predictive value was 58.60%. Above this cutoff value, a 4.8-fold increased significant risk (OR) for uterine fibroid was detected.

LIMITATIONS

The major limitation of the study is the lack of histopathological examination.

CONCLUSION

Serum endocan levels were found to be higher in women with uterine fibroids compared to the control group, so endocan may be considered as a significant serum marker.

Blood endocan as a biomarker for breast cancer recurrence

BACKGROUND

Endocan was reported to affect breast cancer patients negatively and was able to be detected from patients' blood.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate if the measurement of blood endocan in breast cancer patients with high ESM1 expression could be an effective tool to detect postoperative recurrence compared with existing tumor markers.

METHODS

Blood was collected before and after the tumor resection from the mouse models of breast cancer, and endocan levels were measured while visualizing metastatic recurrence with noninvasive luminescence imaging. In clinical settings, blood was withdrawn from 16 breast cancer patients before and after the tumor resection, and the effect of lumpectomy on blood endocan level was evaluated. Additionally, the blood endocan from 20 patients diagnosed with postoperative recurrence was measured, and their positivity rate for endocan was compared with that for serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) or cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3).

RESULTS

Our preclinical and clinical experiments revealed that blood endocan levels reflected tumor burden. Furthermore, over 60% of patients suffering from postoperative recurrence who tested negative for CEA or CA15-3 were positive for endocan.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results support the clinical significance of endocan in breast cancer patients for detecting breast cancer recurrence.

Endocan serum levels in patients with low- and high-grade meningiomas: does this biomarker have an indicative role?

Background

Meningiomas are one of the most common tumors of the brain and central nervous system. The key role of endocan in predicting tumor growth and prognosis has been shown for several types of cancers; however, this role in meningiomas has not been evaluated. In the current study, we investigated the relationship between endocan serum levels with low- and high-grade meningiomas.

Results

The serum level of endocan in the group with meningiomas was 283.34 (242.09-358.70) pg/ml and in the control group was 250.29 (207.56-329.71) pg/ml respectively (P = 0.172). Afterwards, patients were divided into three different groups (grades I, II, and III) and compared to the control. The level of endocan in the group with grade I of meningioma showed no significant difference compared to control individuals (P = 0.86). When patients with grade II and grade III compared with the control group, endocan serum levels were statistically significant (P = 0.002, P < 0.001 respectively). Moreover, our findings showed that the different grades of meningiomas were statistically significant compared to each other (P < 0.001) regarding endocan serum levels, meaning that the higher the grade, the higher the endocan serum levels.

Conclusion

Our findings revealed that higher grades of meningioma had higher endocan serum levels, however, the role of endocan in pathogenesis or progression of this type of tumor requiring further exclusively assessment.