The dilemma of suspicious urine cytology in patients being followed for bladder cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Urine cytology is gold standard for clinical tests used in the diagnosis and follow-up of bladder cancer. Cytology, however, exhibits variable sensitivity depending on tumour grade and interpretation of urine specimens is highly dependent on the skill of the examiner. Furthermore, a "suspicious" cytology report (class III) makes clinicians uncomfortable. In these cases, a more objective test, such as the BTA stat Test, may be useful in providing clarification. The aim of this study was to evaluate the dilemma of suspicious routine urine cytology and to determine whether the BTA stat Test provides diagnostic aid in this rare but controversial category.


METHODS
506 consecutive patients who were being followed for bladder cancer were included in the study. A voided urine sample was obtained prior to routine follow-up cystoscopy and split for culture and testing with the BTA stat Test. Clinical status of the disease was evaluated in patients with suspicious urine cytology, and the diagnostic aid of the BTA stat Test in these patients was determined.


RESULTS
A total of 57 patients (11.3%) had urine cytology classified as suspicious. The BTA stat Test was positive in 29 (50.9%) and negative in 28 (49.1%) patients. Nineteen (33.3%) patients had recurrence at routine cystoscopy. Of the remaining 38 patients, 10 were further investigated due to a positive BTA stat Test. Two additional recurrences were detected bringing the total number of recurrences to 21 (36.8%), 48.3% (14/29) of the patients with positive and 25.0% (7/28) of the patients with negative BTA stat Test had recurrence (p = 0.069). Overall, 65.5% (19/29) of the patients with a positive BTA stat Test were found to have recurrence either at routine cystoscopy, at further investigations, or at the next cystoscopy compared to that of 35.7% (19/28) in those with negative testing (p = 0.024). The overall sensitivity of the BTA stat Test was 66.7%, and the specificity was 58.3%.


CONCLUSIONS
At least a third of the patients under follow-up for bladder cancer with suspicious cytology had a recurrence, indicating that these patients are a risk group for recurrence. More importantly, a BTA stat Test result seems to provide some help in distinguishing those patients with very high risk for recurrence, for whom invasive further investigations should be conducted and a close follow-up policy maintained.
Raitanen
M P
MP
Division of Urology, Tampere University Hospital, Finland. mika.raitanen@epshp.fi
Aine
R
R
Kylmälä
T
T
Kallio
J
J
Liukkonen
T
T
Tammela
T
T
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000652:urine*; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014556:Urine / Q000166:cytology*
D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm