Serotonin Levels Indicate Prognosis of Urothelial Carcinomas

Serotonin levels are suitable for prognostic evaluation of urothelial carcinoma in the bladder, adenocarcinoma of the prostate, and renal cell carcinoma. A study conducted in Germany examined the relevance of serum serotonin levels to the prognosis and occurrence of these oncologic conditions.

Serotonin levels were obtained in 109 patients presenting with urothelial carcinoma at the department of urology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Erlangen, Germany), where the study took place. Patients who presented with seminomatous and non-seminomatous testicular tumors also took part in the study. All of these conditions varied in grades and metastases. Serum levels were drawn between 7 and 8 a.m. exclusively in order to avoid circadian changes.

The serotonin levels in urothelial carcinoma were related to tumor stage, life expectancy, and distant metastases. In renal cell carcinoma, serotonin levels were decreased in patients with lymph node and distant metastases; there was no significant correlation with extent of infiltration. In cases of testicular carcinoma, decreased serotonin levels were noted in mixed tumors and in one case of extragonadal seminoma--otherwise there was no correlation observed with stage and grade. In prostate cancer, serotonin levels tended to be related to the extent of growth in size of the prostate and the presence of distant metastases.

The study appeared online in the World Journal of Urology on June 26, 2008.


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University of Erlangen-Nuremberg