Abstract:Objective To explore the expression of cytokeratin 19 (CK-19) and cytokeratin 19 fragment antigen 21-1 (CYFRA21-1) in serum of patients with bladder cancer (BC) and their clinical significance.Methods Clinical data of 83 BC patients (BC group) diagnosed and treated in our hospital from January 2020 to June 2021 were selected. In addition, 60 cases of benign diseases of the urinary system were enrolled as benign disease group, and 60 healthy patients undergoing physical examinations were enrolled as healthy control group. Chemiluminescence immunoassay was used to detect the serum CYFRA21-1 level, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the serum CK-19 level. The differences in the expression of CK-19 and CYFRA21-1 among the groups and the relationship between the two indicators and clinical characteristics were statistically analyzed. The correlation between CK-19 and CYFRA21-1 expression was analyzed by Pearson correlation method. The diagnostic value of CK-19, CYFRA21-1 and the combined detection of the two for BC were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Results Compared with the benign disease group and healthy control group, serum CK-19 and CYFRA21-1 levels were significantly increased in BC group (both P < 0.05). The serum levels of CK-19 and CYFRA21-1 were higher in the benign disease group than those in the healthy control group (both P < 0.05). The expression of CK-19 and CYFRA21-1 in serum was higher in patients with stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ BC relative to those in patients with stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ BC (all P < 0.05). However, gender, age, tumor size, depth of invasion, and histologic grade were not associated with the expression of CK-19 and CYFRA21-1 in BC patients (all P > 0.05). Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated that the CK-19 expression was positively correlated with the CYFRA21-1 expression in BC patients (r =0.578, P < 0.05). The diagnostic value of the combined detection was greater than that of CK-19 or CYFRA21-1 alone for BC (P < 0.05).Conclusions The levels of CK-19 and CYFRA21-1 in serum of patients with BC are elevated, and the expression of them is related to the tumor stage. Thus, the combined detection of CK-19 and CYFRA21-1 is expected to become a new diagnostic marker for BC.