Comparison of the Urine ThinPrep Test and Melanoma Antigen Gene RT-PCR for the Detection of Bladder Cancer According to Three Urine Collection Methods / 대한진단검사의학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: For the detection of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder, we compared the sensitivities and specificities between the ThinPrep test and Melanoma Antigen Gene (MAGE) test with voided urine (V), drained urine (D), and irrigated urine (I). METHODS: We randomly selected 10 patients of a non-cancer group and 20 patients of a cancer group. V, D, and I were obtained preoperatively, and equally divided into two parts for the ThinPrep test and MAGE reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The cystoscopic finding was used as the reference standard for detection of bladder cancer. The results of ThinPrep test and MAGE RT-PCR were compared according to cancer grade and stage. RESULTS: The overall sensitivities of ThinPrep test were 45%, 85% and 85% for V, D, and I, respec-tively, while those of MAGE test were 50%, 85%, and 65%. Detection rate from drainage urine was considerably higher than that of voided urine in both methods (P<0.05). The specificities were 100% for all types of urine specimens with ThinPrep test and 100%, 90%, and 90% for V, D, and I, respectively, using MAGE test, without any statistically significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: For the detection of bladder cancer, MAGE RT-PCR and ThinPrep test showed a comparable sensitivity and specificity, and drained urine revealed the best detection rate. MAGE RT-PCR might be utilized as another marker of bladder cancer using urine specimens.