Role of NMP22 Bladder Check Test in early detection of bladder cancer with recurrence.

AIM: To assess clinical utility of NMP22 Bladder Check Test and to compare it with voided urine cytology and cystoscopy in early detection of Bladder Cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 115 patients of follow up cases of bladder cancer were enrolled in this study. Urine samples were assayed for the presence of NMP22 using NMP22 Bladder Check Test and cytology was performed by a cytopathologist. The diagnosis, determined from the cystoscopic findings and biopsy findings of the suspicious lesion was considered as the gold standard. For positive biopsies, the results of the NMP22 Test and cytology were also correlated with tumour grade and stage. RESULTS: Mean age of the patients was 57.2 years for males and 55.3 years for females. A total of 59 cases of transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs) were diagnosed among which NMP22 test was positive in 48 cases and cytology in 26 cases. The sensitivity and specificities of NMP22 Test in recurrent bladder cases was 81.3% and 92% which was significantly greater than that of cytology 44% and 96.1% respectively. In non-invasive lesions of TCC, NMP22 Test and cytology was positive in 71.8% and 42.8% of cases respectively. In muscle-invasive lesions, NMP22 Test was positive in 82.2% and 44.4% cases were positive for cytology. The sensitivity of the NMP22 test was 81.3%, which was significantly greater than that of cytology at 44%. CONCLUSION: The NMP22 Bladder Check is a new point of care diagnostic test for urinary bladder cancer. The results of our study have shown that the NMP22 can be used as a substitute for urine cytology as we achieved high sensitivity and specificity with recurrent bladder cases.