Abstract
This cohort study aimed to investigate prognostic significance of plasma folate and cobalamin in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). A total of 177 NMIBC patients were followed over a period extending to 6 years. Cox regression models were applied to estimate risks for recurrence and progression according to plasma vitamins tertiles. Compared to first tertile, third tertile of plasma folate [HR (95% CI), 10.5 (1.32–83.4); p = 0.026] was associated, and of plasma cobalamin [2.12 (0.63–7.25); p = 0.116] tended to be associated with higher risk for progression. NIMBC patients with high folate/cobalamin statuses should make the physician more alert for a likely poor outcome.
Ethical approval
The study was conducted in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans. It was approved by the Ethic committee of Rabta Hospital and all patients gave written consent to participate to the study.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the participants for accepting to participate to the study and the paramedical staff for their valuable contribution.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Contributors
MKBF, MF, HS, SHT and YN were responsible for the study design. MKBF, YO, KMD, MB participated the patient recruitment, and outcome information collection. MKBF, SHT and JK performed biochemical analysis. MKBF, MF and SHT performed the statistical analysis and interpretation of data. MKBF and MF drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Data availability statement
All data relevant to the study are included in the article.