Sera from 40 patients with newly diagnosed bladder cancer (28 superficial tumours (pTa and pT1) and 12 muscle-invasive tumours) were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to determine the concentrations of soluble E-cadherin (sE-cadherin), soluble E-selectin (sE-selectin), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1). The gene discussed is VCAM1; the disease is urinary bladder carcinoma.