Effect of intravesical instillations on the human complement factor H related protein (BTA stat) test

Bladder Epicheck Test: A Novel Tool to Support Urothelial Carcinoma Diagnosis in Urine Samples

Bladder cancer and upper urothelial tract carcinoma are common diseases with a high risk of recurrence, thus necessitating follow-up after initial treatment. The management of non-muscle invasive bladder carcinoma (NMIBC) after transurethral resection involves surveillance, intravesical therapy, and cytology with cystoscopy. Urinary cytology, cystoscopy, and radiological evaluation of the upper urinary tract are recommended during follow-up in the international urological guidelines. Cystoscopy is the standard examination for the first assessment and follow-up of NMIBC, and urine cytology is a widely used urinary test with high sensitivity for high-grade urothelial carcinoma (HGUC) and carcinoma in situ (CIS). In recent years, various urinary assays, including DNA methylation markers, have been used to detect bladder tumors. Among these, the Bladder EpiCheck test is one of the most widely used and is based on analysis of the methylation profile of urothelial cells to detect bladder neoplasms. This review assesses the importance of methylation analysis and the Bladder EpiCheck test as urinary biomarkers for diagnosing urothelial carcinomas in patients in follow-up for NMIBC, helping cytology and cystoscopy in doubtful cases. A combined approach of cytology and methylation analysis is suggested not only to diagnose HGUC, but also to predict clinical and histological recurrences.

Increased accuracy of a novel mRNA-based urine test for bladder cancer surveillance

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the Xpert Bladder Cancer (BC) Monitor, compared with cystoscopy and cytology in the oncological follow-up of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A total of 140 patients with a history of NMIBC undergoing routine surveillance at our institution were enrolled prospectively in this study (ISRCTN study registry number 37210907). Urine cytology was evaluated according to the Paris classification system. In addition, urinary specimens were analysed using the Xpert BC Monitor, which measures five target mRNAs (ABL1, CRH, IGF2, UPK1B, ANXA10) using real-time PCR. Descriptive analysis, diagnostic accuracy including sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV), receiver-operating characteristic curve, and area under the curve (AUC) were calculated.

RESULTS

The overall sensitivity (0.84) and NPV (0.93) of the Xpert BC Monitor were significantly superior to those of bladder washing cytology (0.33 and 0.76; P < 0.001). Subgroup analyses confirmed the high sensitivity of the Xpert BC Monitor even in low-grade (0.77) and pTa (0.82) disease compared with barbotage cytology (low-grade: 0.13; pTa: 0.21). The overall specificity of the Xpert BC Monitor and barbotage cytology was similar (0.91 vs 0.94; P = 0.41). Combining the Xpert BC Monitor with barbotage cytology (AUC = 0.85) did not enhance diagnostic performance compared with the performance of the Xpert BC Monitor alone (AUC = 0.87).

CONCLUSION

In this study, we report for the first time that the Xpert BC Monitor, a new mRNA-based urine test, outperforms cytology with regard to sensitivity and NPV, even in low-grade and pTa tumours, with no reduction of specificity.

Urinary Biomarkers for Diagnosis of Bladder Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Urinary biomarkers may be a useful alternative or adjunct to cystoscopy for diagnosis of bladder cancer.

PURPOSE

To systematically review the evidence on the accuracy of urinary biomarkers for diagnosis of bladder cancer in adults who have signs or symptoms of the disease or are undergoing surveillance for recurrent disease.

DATA SOURCES

Ovid MEDLINE (January 1990 through June 2015), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and reference lists.

STUDY SELECTION

57 studies that evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of quantitative or qualitative nuclear matrix protein 22 (NMP22), qualitative or quantitative bladder tumor antigen (BTA), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), fluorescent immunohistochemistry (ImmunoCyt [Scimedx]), and Cxbladder (Pacific Edge Diagnostics USA) using cystoscopy and histopathology as the reference standard met inclusion criteria. Case-control studies were excluded.

DATA EXTRACTION

Dual extraction and quality assessment of individual studies. Overall strength of evidence (SOE) was also assessed.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Across biomarkers, sensitivities ranged from 0.57 to 0.82 and specificities ranged from 0.74 to 0.88. Positive likelihood ratios ranged from 2.52 to 5.53, and negative likelihood ratios ranged from 0.21 to 0.48 (moderate SOE for quantitative NMP22, qualitative BTA, FISH, and ImmunoCyt; low SOE for others). For some biomarkers, sensitivity was higher for initial diagnosis of bladder cancer than for diagnosis of recurrence. Sensitivity increased with higher tumor stage or grade. Studies that directly compared the accuracy of quantitative NMP22 and qualitative BTA found no differences in diagnostic accuracy (moderate SOE); head-to-head studies of other biomarkers were limited. Urinary biomarkers plus cytologic evaluation were more sensitive than biomarkers alone but missed about 10% of bladder cancer cases.

LIMITATION

Restricted to English-language studies; no search for studies published only as abstracts; statistical heterogeneity present in most analyses; few studies for qualitative NMP22, quantitative BTA, and Cxbladder; and methodological shortcomings in almost all studies.

CONCLUSION

Urinary biomarkers miss a substantial proportion of patients with bladder cancer and are subject to false-positive results in others. Accuracy is poor for low-stage and low-grade tumors.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42014013284).

Biomarkers for detection and surveillance of bladder cancer

INTRODUCTION

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and the ninth most common cancer in women in Canada. Early detection of tumours is essential for improved prognosis and long-term survival. The standard method for detection and surveillance is cystoscopy together with urine cytology. Cystoscopy is relatively sensitive but is expensive and invasive. Urinary cytology is a noninvasive method that has poor sensitivity but high specificity; it is relied on for the detection of carcinoma in situ. Currently, several urinary-based bladder tumour biomarkers with USFDA/Health Canada approval are available commercially, but none have been widely adopted by urologists despite their offering high sensitivity and/or specificity. We present here a review of recent studies evaluating 7 commercial biomarker assays for the detection and/or surveillance of bladder cancer.

RESULTS

SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY RANGES, RESPECTIVELY, FOR EACH MARKER WERE REPORTED AS FOLLOWS: BTA Stat (Polymedco), 52.5%-78.0% and 69.0%-87.1%; BTA Trak (Polymedco), 51%-100% and 73%-92.5%; cytology, 12.1%-84.6% and 78.0%-100%; hematuria dipstick, 47.0%-92.6% and 51.0%-84.0%; NMP22 Bladder Cancer Test (Matritech), 34.6%-100% and 60.0%-95.0%; NMP22 BladderChek (Matritech), 49.5%-65.0% and 40.0%-89.8%; ImmunoCyt/uCyt+ (DiagnoCure), 63.3%-84.9% and 62.0%-78.1%; ImmunoCyt/uCyt+ and cytology, 81.0%-89.3% and 61.0%-77.7%; and UroVysion (Abbott Molecular)/florescence in situ hybridization, 68.6%-100% and 65.0%-96.0%.

CONCLUSION

We find that no currently available bladder cancer urinary marker is sensitive enough to eliminate the need for cystoscopy. In addition, cytology remains integral to the detection of occult cancer. However, owing to their relatively high sensitivities, these markers may be used to extend the period between cystoscopies in the surveillance of patients with transitional cell carcinoma. Further study is required to determine which markers, alone or in panel, would best accomplish this.

Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin versus epirubicin for Ta and T1 bladder cancer

BACKGROUND

Bladder cancer accounts for approximately 4.4% of adult malignancies, and approximately 80% of bladder cancer presents initially as transitional cell carcinoma that is confined to the urothelium (stage Ta) or lamina propria (stage T1). Intravesical administration of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and epirubicin (EPI) has been proven to reduce tumour recurrence and prevent or delay progression to muscle invasion and metastases. However, comparison of the effectiveness and safety of intravesical BCG and EPI in bladder cancer has yet to be explored.

OBJECTIVES

To compare the effectiveness and safety of BCG with EPI in the treatment of Ta and T1 bladder cancer.

SEARCH STRATEGY

A comprehensive search of MEDLINE (1966 to April 2010), EMBASE (1980 to April 2010), Health Services Technology, Administration, and Research (HealthSTAR), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), CancerLit, and Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE), was performed, and handsearching of relevant journals was undertaken.

SELECTION CRITERIA

All randomised or quasi-randomised trials (in which allocation was obtained by alternation - e.g., alternate medical records, date of birth, or other predictable methods) in patients with Ta or T1 bladder cancer that compared intravesical BCG with EPI were included. No language restrictions were applied.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Trial eligibility, methodological quality and data extraction were assessed independently by two reviewers. We compared dichotomous outcomes (frequency of tumour recurrence, progressive disease by stage, mortality, distant metastases, local and systemic adverse effects, treatment delayed or stopped due to adverse effects) using risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

MAIN RESULTS

Five trials of 1111 participants were included in this review. For BCG, 549 patients were treated, and 562 with EPI. Of the evaluated patients, 35.5% (195/549) in the BCG group and 51.4% (289/562) in the EPI group had tumour recurrence (P < 0.05). For disease progression (BCG, 44/549; EPI, 58/562) and distant metastases (BCG, 23/487; EPI, 31/495), there were no significant differences (P = 0.19 and P = 0.29, respectively). Only two trials, including 769 patients, had sufficient data for us to analyze disease-specific (BCG, 22/383; EPI, 26/386) and overall mortality (BCG, 125/383; EPI, 147/386). Neither comparison was significant (P = 0.93 and P = 0.12, respectively). In four studies reporting toxicity, BCG was associated with significantly more drug-induced cystitis [BCG, 54.1% (232/429); EPI, 31.7% (140/441)] and haematuria [BCG, 30.8% (132/429); EPI, 16.1% (71/440)]. Similarly, in three studies reporting systemic toxicity, BCG had significantly higher toxicity than the EPI (34.8% (134/385) versus 1.3% (5/393), respectively). In a meta-analysis comparing 'treatment delayed or stopped' (BCG, 40/431; EPI, 33/441), there was no significant difference between BCG and EPI treatments (P = 0.82).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

The data from the present meta-analysis indicate that intravesical BCG treatment is more efficacious than EPI in reducing tumour recurrence for Ta and T1 bladder cancer. However, BCG appears to be associated with a higher incidence of adverse effects, such as drug-induced cystitis, haematuria and systemic toxicity, than EPI. The overall quality of the evidence is rather low. Well-designed, high quality randomised controlled trials with good allocation concealment are required.

Proteomic assays for the detection of urothelial cancer

Bladder cancer is one of the most expensive cancers from diagnosis to death of the patient due to life-long surveillance involving upper tract imaging, urinary cytology, and cystoscopy. Cytology has been historically used in conjunction with cystoscopy to help detect disease that may be missed by routine cystoscopy (e.g., carcinoma in situ and upper tract disease). Urine cytology is highly cytopathologist dependent and has reasonable sensitivity for detecting high grade disease. However, its sensitivity drops precipitously with regard to well-differentiated low grade cancers. Intensive investigations have been undertaken using proteomics to find an alternative to cystoscopy and cytology. Urine proteomic markers currently evaluated critically in the literature include bladder tumor antigen, nuclear matrix protein 22, BLCA-4, hyaluronic acid, hyaluronidase, cytokeratin 8, cytokeratin 18, cytokeratin 19, tissue polypeptide antigen, and tissue polypeptide-specific antigen. Markers used as alternatives to cystoscopy must be accurate with high sensitivity and specificity, cost effective for life-long surveillance, and minimally invasive to minimize the burden to the patient. To date, no proteomic marker has been developed that can replace cystoscopy for the detection of bladder cancer. However, several urinary markers appear to have higher sensitivity albeit lower specificity than cytology and can be used to supplement cystoscopy. Some of those markers are herein described in this chapter. By defining and characterizing the current state of the art in protein based markers, we are poised to evaluate and benchmark newly discovered protein biomarkers that will be isolated through new proteomics based investigations of urine.

Effect of intravesical instillation on performance of uCYT+ test

OBJECTIVES

To assess the influence of intravesical instillation of epirubicin or bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) in patients with bladder cancer on the clinical performance of the uCyt+ test, which traces the three monoclonal antibodies M344, LDQ 10, and 19A211 in urothelial cells.

METHODS

A total of 267 patients with a mean age of 70.5 years (range 35 to 87) were included in this prospective study. All patients were being followed up after complete transurethral resection of superficial urothelial cancer. All patients received a single instillation of 80 mg epirubicin within 24 hours of transurethral resection and 163 underwent subsequent cycles of chemotherapy with epirubicin or immunotherapy with BCG. This was because of multifocality, high-recurrence, or high-grade urothelial cancer. At the next control, all patients underwent urinary cytology, with the uCyt+ test performed on liquid-based cytology (ThinPrep), subsequent cystoscopy, and evaluation of any suspicious lesion by biopsy. Patients who underwent intravesical BCG therapy underwent random bladder cold biopsy after every instillation series.

RESULTS

Of the 267 patients, 8 could not be evaluated by uCyt+ because of insufficient cells. Of the remaining 259 patients under assessment, 86 had proven urothelial cancer. In the 101 patients under assessment with only a single intravesical instillation of epirubicin (group 1), the overall sensitivity for cytology and the uCyt+ test was 44.7% and 76.6%, respectively. Cytology had a specificity of 90.7% and uCyt+ of 64.8%. The negative predictive value for cytology and uCyt+ was 65.3% and 76.1%, respectively. Of the 158 patients under evaluation who were treated with long-term intravesical therapy (group 2), the overall sensitivity and specificity for cytology and the uCyt+ test was 37.8% and 84.6% and 94.9% and 70.6%, respectively. The negative predictive value for cytology and the uCyt+ test was 83.1% and 93.3%, respectively. Statistical analysis showed no statistically significant difference between the overall sensitivity (P = 0.512) and specificity (P = 0.558) for the uCyt+ test in the two groups of patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The sensitivity and specificity of the uCyt+ test are not significantly affected by intravesical long-term treatment with epirubicin or BCG.

Current bladder cancer tests: unnecessary or beneficial?

Bladder cancer is currently diagnosed using cystoscopy and cytology in patients with suspicious signs and symptoms. These same tests are used to monitor patients with a history of bladder cancer for recurrence. The recurrence rate for bladder cancer is high, thus necessitating long-term follow-up. Urine cytology requires an experienced cytopathologist and is costly. It has high specificity, but low sensitivity for low-grade bladder tumors. Recently many non-invasive bladder cancer tests, utilizing markers found in the urine, have been developed. The FDA has approved several of these for the use is bladder cancer diagnosis, and many others are undergoing development and investigation. An ideal bladder cancer test would be non-invasive, highly sensitive and specific, inexpensive, easy to perform, and yield highly reproducible results. Many of the tests reviewed meet some, but not all, of these criteria.

The effect of photodynamic therapy on rat urinary bladder with orthotopic urothelial carcinoma

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effect of whole-bladder photodynamic therapy (PDT) on a rat model with orthotopic superficial bladder cancer, as PDT is an alternative intravesical therapy for treating superficial bladder cancer, based on an interaction between a photosensitizer and light energy to induce oxygen radicals that destroy tissue by lipid peroxidation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In all, 76 female Fischer F344 rats were inoculated intravesically with AY-27 tumour cells. After establishing superficial tumour, 24 rats were treated with PDT using aminolaevulinic acid (ALA)-induced protoporphyrin IX as a photosensitizer, and a continuous-wave argon pumped-dye laser (638 nm). At 4 h after intravenous (300 mg/kg) or intravesical (100 mg/mL) administration of ALA the bladders were intravesically exposed to a 40 J/cm(2) light dose; 12 rats received no ALA but were exposed to the same light dose. Before administering ALA, urine cytology samples were taken for analysis. At 3 or 21 days the treated rats were killed and morphological changes in the bladder walls analysed by light microscopy. Forty rats served as controls to examine the presence of tumour.

RESULTS

The tumour established in 33 of 40 rats (83%) in the controls, but after PDT with intravesical ALA there was carcinoma in only in one of 12 (P < 0.001, Pearson's chi(2) test). After PDT with intravenous ALA there was carcinoma in five of 11 rats (P = 0.063, Pearson's chi2 test). In the control group of 12 rats receiving only light energy there was carcinoma in three (P = 0.001, Pearson's chi(2) test). Histologically, at 3 days after PDT there was only mild superficial damage in all six rats treated intravesically. Bladder wall destruction reached the muscular layer, with an abscess in one of six rats treated intravenously. After 3 weeks of PDT there was muscular necrosis with perforation and abscess from catheterization two of six rats treated intravesically and in three the bladder wall totally recovered. In the intravenous group the bladder walls were normal or had only mild superficial damage. Cytology of the urine sediment failed to detect half the tumours in the treatment groups.

CONCLUSION

These results support the use of PDT with intravesical ALA-induced protoporphyrin X for treating superficial bladder carcinoma. Intravesical was better than intravenous ALA in eradicating bladder carcinoma with PDT.