Urinary nuclear matrix proteins 22 is a marker for the early diagnosis and monitoring recurrence of bladder cancer

Objective To investigate the clinical application of nuclear matrix proteins 22 (NMP22) as a novel urine marker for bladder cancer.Methods A total of 24 patients with transitional cell cacinoma in bladder provided 48 voided urine samples pre- and postoperatively and 15 voided urine specimens were from patients with urological benign disease.Urine samples were assayed for NMP22 using the NMP22 Test Kit (ELISA). Results Median values of NMP22 were 71.5 U/ml for bladder cancers and 11.0 U/ml for urological benign disease.The urinary NMP22 values in bladder cancer group were significantly higher than those in urological benign disease group (P0.01).The optimal reference value (cut off) was 18U/ml for diagnosis of transitional cell carcinoma of bladder in the patient group.The sensitivity and specificity of ELISA for NMP22 were 95.8%(23/24) and 86.7%(13/15) respectively. The median value of NMP22 in the postoperative urine was 45.0 U/ml and significantly lower than that of preoperative value (P0.01).Im the group of postoperative recurrence and the group without progression the median value of NMP22 were 60.0U/ml and 12.0U/ml respectively at follow-up. Conclusions Urinary NMP22 value is a sensitive,specific and noninvasive marker for diagnosis of bladder cancer. It is useful for estimation of grade and stage of bladder cancer.