NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Urine levels of hyaluronidase RNA detect bladder carcinoma with greater sensitivity and specificity than other markers, according to a report in the April 1st issue of Cancer.
Dr. Sanaa Eissa from Ain Shams University, Cairo, and colleagues compared the sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of bladder carcinoma of hyaluronidase RNA in cellular pellet from voided urine samples with those of CK-20 RNA, hyaluronic acid, and urine cytology.
Hyaluronidase mRNA was detected in 90.8% of patients with malignant bladder tumors, 10.2% of those with benign bladder pathology, and none of those in the control group, the authors report.
CK-20 mRNA was detected in 78.1% of malignant cases and 2.9% of benign cases, the report indicates.
False positive cytologic results were returned in 30.9% of benign cases, and it also had a lower sensitivity (68.9%) than the other two tests.
These results translate into overall sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing bladder carcinoma of 90.8% and 93.4% for hyaluronidase mRNA, the researchers note, substantially higher than the 85.8% and 60.7% for a hyaluronic acid level above 58.5 unit/mg protein.
“This high sensitivity is among the best reported using a single test,” the investigators write.
The sensitivity of hyaluronidase mRNA in detecting bladder carcinoma increased to 94.7% when combined with CD-20 and to 98.7% when combined with CK-20 and urine cytology, but the specificity decreased to 72.6%, the results indicate.
Accuracy in detecting bladder carcinoma was highest for hyaluronidase mRNA (92.1%) and increased with the addition of CD-20 RNA (93.1%), the investigators report.
“The current results demonstrate the possibility of using RT-PCR to measure expression of the molecular marker hyaluronidase in uroepithelial cells and, thereby, detect transitional cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma reliably even in the very early superficial stages before tumor invasion,” the authors conclude.
Source: Cancer 2005;103:1356-1362. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Bladder Neoplasms: Diagnosis: Diagnostic Techniques, Urological: Environment and Public Health: Epidemiologic Methods: Health: Health Occupations: Health Services Administration: Mathematics: Medicine: Investigative Techniques: Neoplasms: Neoplasms by Site: Physical Sciences: Population Characteristics: Preventive Medicine: Public Health: Quality of Health Care: Sensitivity and Specificity: Specialties, Medical: Statistics: Urogenital Neoplasms: Urologic Neoplasms: Epidemiologic Research Design: Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation: Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms: Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures: Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment: Biological Sciences: Diseases: Health Care: Physical SciencesCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
