New Techniques for the Detection of the Malignant Cells in Urine Cytology

Transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder is common in the genitourinary tract. The gold standard for the diagnosis of bladder cancer has been cystoscopy, along with urine cytology. Cystoscopy is an invasive and relatively expensive technique. By comparison, urine cytology is easy to perform and specific for a diagnosis of bladder cancer, although less sensitive, especially in low-grade tumors. For this reason, there has been a need for superior noninvasive technology to increase our confidence in being able to detect bladder cancer. There are many reports of the various urinary tests that are available to facilitate the diagnosis. In this article, I reviewed the literature on urinary markers and tests that may be clinically useful, including fluorescence in situ hybridization, uCyt+/Immunocyte, the $BTA^{(R)}$ test, the NMP 22TM, the $FDP^{(R)}$ test, the telomerase activity test, the HA and HAse tests, and flow cytometry. Most of these tests have a higher sensitivity and specificity than cytology. However, urine cytology has the highest specificity, especially in individuals with a high-grade tumor. We conclude that no urinary markers or tests can replace the role of cystoscopy along with cytology in the diagnosis of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. However, some markers could be used adjunctively to increase the diagnostic accuracy during screening or during the postoperative follow-up examination of patients with bladder cancer.

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