http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcurol/ The editor's pick of recent articles published by BMC Urology 2012-05-04T00:00:00Z Background: Current urine-based assays for bladder cancer (BCa) diagnosis lack accuracy, so the search for improved biomarkers continues. Through genomic and proteomic profiling of urine, we have identified a panel of biomarkers associated with the presence of BCa. In this study, we evaluated the utility of three of these biomarkers, interleukin 8 (IL-8), Matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP-9) and Syndecan in the diagnosis of BCa through urinalysis. Methods: Voided urines from 127 subjects, cancer subjects (n = 64), non-cancer subjects (n = 63) were analyzed. The protein concentrations of IL-8, MMP-9, and Syndecan were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Data were also compared to a commercial ELISA-based BCa detection assay (BTA-Trak(c)) and urinary cytology. We used the area under the curve of a receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) to compare the performance of each biomarker. Results: Urinary protein concentrations of IL-8, MMP-9 and BTA were significantly elevated in BCa subjects. Of the experimental markers compared to BTA-Trak(c), IL-8 was the most prominent marker (AUC; 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.72-0.86). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that only IL-8 (OR; 1.51; 95% CI, 1.16-1.97, p = 0.002) was an independent factor for the detection of BCa. Conclusions: These results suggest that the measurement of IL-8 in voided urinary samples may have utility for urine-based detection of BCa. These findings need to be confirmed in a larger, prospective cohort. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2490/12/12 Virginia Urquidi Myron Chang Yunfeng Dai Jeongsoon Kim Edward D. Wolfson Steve Goodison Charles J. Rosser BMC Urology 2012, 12:12 2012-05-04T00:00:00Z 10.1186/1471-2490-12-12 Urinary biomarker for bladder cancer Interleukin 8 urinary protein concentrations are significantly elevated in bladder cancer (BCa) patients, thus potentially improving biomarker urine-based detection for BCa if used in conjunction with other validated biomarkers. /content/figures/1471-2490-12-12-toc.gif BMC Urology 1471-2490 12 12 2012-05-04T00:00:00Z PDF Background: Global histone modifications have been implicated in the progression of various tumour entities. Our study was designed to assess global methylation levels of histone 4 lysine 20 (H4K20me1-3) at different stages of prostate cancer (PCA) carcinogenesis. Methods: Global H4K20 methylation levels were evaluated using a tissue microarray in patients with clinically localized PCA (n = 113), non-malignant prostate disease (n = 27), metastatic hormone-naive PCA (mPCA, n = 30) and castration-resistant PCA (CRPC, n = 34). Immunohistochemistry was performed to assess global levels of H4K20 methylation levels. Results: Similar proportions of the normal, PCA, and mPCA prostate tissues showed strong H4K20me3 staining. CRPC tissue analysis showed the weakest immunostaining levels of H4K20me1 and H4K20me2, compared to other prostate tissues. H4K20me2 methylation levels indicated significant differences in examined tissues except for normal prostate versus PCA tissue. H4K20me1 differentiates CRPC from other prostate tissues. H4K20me1 was significantly correlated with lymph node metastases, and H4K20me2 showed a significant correlation with the Gleason score. However, H4K20 methylation levels failed to predict PSA recurrence after radical prostatectomy. Conclusions: H4K20 methylation levels constitute valuable markers for the dynamic process of prostate cancer carcinogenesis. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2490/12/5 Turang E Behbahani Philip Kahl Johannes von der Gathen Lukas C Heukamp Claudia Baumann Ines Gütgemann Bernhard Walter Ferdinand Hofstädter Patrick J Bastian Alexander von Ruecker Stefan C Müller Sebastian Rogenhofer Jörg Ellinger BMC Urology 2012, 12:5 2012-03-13T00:00:00Z 10.1186/1471-2490-12-5 Histone methylation predictor of prostate cancer Changes in histone 4 lysine 20 methylation levels (H4K20me1-3) in patients with different stages of prostate cancer may be prognostic for prostate carcinogenesis and enable development of an epigenetic diagnostic test for the disease. /content/figures/1471-2490-12-5-toc.gif BMC Urology 1471-2490 12 5 2012-03-13T00:00:00Z XML