Urinary bladder cancer test: a new urinary tumor marker in the follow-up of superficial bladder cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To study the diagnostic performance of the Urinary Bladder Cancer (UBC) test in patients with superficial bladder carcinoma.


METHODS
One hundred one patients in follow-up for superficial bladder cancer (pTa, pT1, carcinoma in situ) were recruited for this study. Each patient underwent cystoscopy and transurethral resection or biopsy, with subsequent histologic confirmation in the case of abnormalities. In addition, specimens were assessed with an immunoenzymometric assay for cytokeratin expression (the UBC test), and the urinary creatinine concentration was determined to correct for different degrees of urinary dilution. Different methods were applied to calculate the diagnostic value of the UBC test.


RESULTS
Both noncorrected and corrected median values of the UBC test were comparable between patients with and without a recurrent bladder tumor. The overall sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the noncorrected UBC test was 20.7%, 84.7%, 35.3%, and 72.6%, respectively. For the corrected UBC test, the corresponding values were 20.7%, 79.2%, 28.6%, and 71.3%. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was not significantly different from 0.50, indicating no diagnostic value of the UBC test in this study.


CONCLUSIONS
The diagnostic value of this new urinary marker appears insufficient for the follow-up of patients with superficial bladder cancer.
Mungan
N A
NA
Department of Urology, University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Vriesema
J L
JL
Thomas
C M
CM
Kiemeney
L A
LA
Witjes
J A
JA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000652:urine*; D001706:Biopsy; D002278:Carcinoma in Situ / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D003558:Cystoscopy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins / Q000032:analysis / Q000652:urine*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D007633:Keratins; D003404:Creatinine