title: Application of urinary mutagen testing to detect workplace hazardous exposure and bladder cancer.
abstract: The objectives of this biochemical epidemiologic case-control study were to evaluate urinary mutagen testing for occupational exposure assessment, and for possible screening for bladder cancer in the workplace. Thirty-seven patients (19 bladder cancer cases and 18 controls) completed a questionnaire. Two urine samples, i.e. a work sample taken while at work, and a home sample, were requested from each patient. Twenty-six patients (17 cases and 9 controls) gave a total of 47 24-h urine samples for mutagenicity testing by the Ames test. A positive Ames test was found to be associated significantly with current occupation with hazardous exposure (odds ratio = 3.7, 95%CI 1.1-12.9), and non-significantly with bladder cancer (odds ratio = 1.8, 95%CI 0.5-7.1). Our results show that the urinary Ames test has the potential of being used as a surveillance for current workplace hazardous exposure (sensitivity = 52%, specificity = 77%, positive predictive value = 72%, negative predictive value = 59%, positive likelihood ratio = 2.3), but not as a screening test for bladder cancer cases (sensitivity = 42%, specificity = 71%, positive predictive value = 3%, negative predictive value = 98%, positive likelihood ratio = 1.5).
authors.affiliation: Occupational and Environmental Health Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Connolly
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009153:Mutagens / Q000032:analysis*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D009790:Occupations; D012485:Salmonella typhi / Q000187:drug effects; D012907:Smoking; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000652:urine*; D014556:Urine
chemical_list: D009153:Mutagens