Serum lactate dehydrogenase level predicts the prognosis in bladder cancer patients

BACKGROUND: Recently, several studies investigated the association between lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level and the prognosis of urothelial carcinoma. However, no studies explored the role of serum LDH level in the survival of overall bladder cancer (BC). In this study, we intended to address the association of LDH level with the prognosis of BC. METHODS: 206 patients with BC were included in this study. The clinical data and blood samples of patients were collected. The overall survival and progression-free survival were used. Kaplan–Meier method and Log rank test were used to evaluate the effects of LDH level on the survival of BC. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were utilized to identify prognosis predictors of BC. RESULTS: Data indicated that serum LDH level in the BC patients was significantly higher than those in controls. In addition, this study suggested that serum LDH level was associated with T stage, N stage, tumor size, M stage, pathological type, and lymphovascular invasion. The Kaplan–Meier analysis found significant differences in the OS and PFS rate between lower and higher serum LDH level groups (LDH ≥ 225 U/L and < 225 U/L). Multivariate Cox regression indicated that pathological type, T2–3, and higher level of LDH were independently associated with adverse prognosis in BC patients. CONCLUSION: The higher serum LDH level (≥ 225 U/L) is associated with poor prognosis in patients with BC. Serum LDH level could be used as a novel predictive biomarker for BC patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12894-023-01239-0.