Cystoscopy and urinary cytology are standard tools in the diagnostics of urothelial cancer of the urinary bladder; however, cystoscopy is invasive and urinary cytology lacks accuracy for the diagnosis of low grade tumors.
More recently several alternative urinary test systems were developed with the aim to make the diagnostics of urothelial tumors more reliable; however, in general all protein-based point of care test systems have a high rate of false positive test results, especially in patients with benign disorders. Fluorescence in situ hybridization, which is highly sensitive and specific, may be a reasonable supplement to the diagnostic spectrum in patients after instillation therapy or bladder replacement. Additionally, there are several new test systems which still need to be tested in large clinical studies with respect to diagnostic accuracy.
Written by:
Tritschler S, Strittmatter F, Karl A, Stief C. Are you the author?
Urologische Klinik und Poliklink, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, LMU Klinikum Großhadern, Marchioninistraße 15, 81377, München, Deutschland.
Reference: Urologe A. 2013 Jul;52(7):965-9.
doi: 10.1007/s00120-013-3227-0
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23784678
Article in German.
UroToday.com Bladder Cancer Section
