Korean J Urol.  2003 Jan;44(1):17-21.

The Role of the UBC Test in Transitional Cell Carcinomas of the Bladder

• Cheon SH
• Hong JH
• Kim JB
• Ryu JS
• Kim HK
• Kim CS

Abstract

PURPOSE: We evaluated the diagnostic performance of a noninvasive bladder cancer test, the urinary bladder cancer (UBC) antigen test, on voided urine samples from patients with active transitional cell carcinomas, on follow-up and controls.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We measured the UBC antigen in the urine from 136 patients with active transitional cell carcinomas of the bladder (group 1), 56 patients with no evidence of tumor recurrence, confirmed by cystoscopy at follow-up (group 2), 60 patients with urinary tract infections (group 3), 52 patients with other genitourinary tract malignancies (group 4) and 74 healthy subjects, free from urological diseases (group 5).
RESULTS
The mean UBC antigen concentrations were 75.79, 28.95, 52.90, 16.90 and 7.56micro gram/L, in groups 1 to 5, respectively. Group 2, 4 and 5 showed statistically significant differences in the UBC concentrations compared to group 1 (p=0.03, <0.001 and <0.001, respectively). Sensitivity and specificity were 61.8 and 68.2%, at a threshold value of 9.7micro gram/L, from group 1, compared to groups 2 to 5. As for the tumor grade in group 1, there were significant differences between grade I and II (p<0.001) or between grade I and III (p<0.001), but there were no significant differences according to the T stage.
CONCLUSIONS
The UBC test might have a role as a potential tumor marker for the diagnosis of transitional cell carcinomas of the bladder adjunct to cystoscopy.

Keyword

Tumor markers; Bladder neoplasms; Transitional cell carcinoma; Cytokeratin

MeSH Terms

Carcinoma, Transitional Cell*
Cystoscopy
Diagnosis
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Keratins
Recurrence
Sensitivity and Specificity
Biomarkers, Tumor
Urinary Bladder Neoplasms
Urinary Bladder*
Urinary Tract Infections
Urologic Diseases
Keratins