[Comparative study of BTA stat test, NMP-22, and cytology in the diagnosis of bladder cancer].
OBJECTIVE
To compare the sensitivity and specificity of the BTA stat test, NMP-22 and voided urine cytology in the diagnosis of bladder cancer.


METHODS
The study comprised 100 patients or follow-up or with a suspicion of bladder cancer. A voided urine sample was obtained and alliquoted in three samples for the BTA stat test, NMP-22 and cytology. The patients were subsequently evaluated by cystoscopy and TUR was performed when cancer was suspected. The bladder cancer was classified according to TNM stage and WHO grade. The McNemar test was utilized to compare the results. The cut-off level used for NMP-22 was 10 U/ml. ROC curves were plotted to determine the NMP-22 values for optimal sensitivity and specificity in our seires.


RESULTS
Two patients were excluded from the study. The overall sensitivity was 76.47% for cytology, 78.43% for the BTA stat test and 84.31% for NMP-22 (p = n.s.). The specificity was 91.49%, 87.23% and 87.23% respectively (p = n.s.). By grade and stage, NMP-22 showed the best results followed by the BTA stat test and lastly cytology, although the differences were not significant. The ideal cut-off for NMP-22 in our series was 6 U/ml and not the generally recognized 10 U/ml.


CONCLUSIONS
NMP-22 is superior to the BTA stat test and cytology in the diagnosis of bladder cancer, although the differences were not significant. The ideal cut-off in our series was 6 U/ml. The BTA stat test has the advantage of being easy to perform and provides the results in 5 minutes. In our view, NMP-22 and BTA stat test can replace cytology in the diagnosis of bladder cancer.
Gutiérrez Baños
J L
JL
Servicio de Urología, Hospital Universitario Valdecilla, Santander, España.
Rebollo Rodrigo
M H
MH
Antolín Juarez
F
F
Martín García
B
B
Hernández Rodríguez
R
R
Portillo Martín
J A
JA
Correas Gómez
M A
MA
del Valle Schaan
J I
JI
Roca Edreira
A
A
de Diego Rodríguez
E
E
Radó Velázquez
M A
MA
D000368:Aged; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000652:urine; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000652:urine*; D006801:Humans; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000652:urine*
D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; C112999:bladder tumor-associated antigen