Measurement of telomerase activity in urine appears promising for the detection of bladder cancer in men, according to a study published last week in JAMA (2005; 294:2052-6).
Measurement of telomerase activity in urine appears promising for the detection of bladder cancer in men, according to a study published last week in JAMA (2005; 294:2052-6). Italian researchers studied 218 men whose urine telomerase activity was determined using a highly sensitive telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay. The performance of the assay to detect urine telomerase activity was compared with urine cytology as an aid to early cancer detection.
Using a 50 arbitrary enzymatic unit cutoff value, the assay showed 90% sensitivity and 88% specificity. Specificity increased to 94% for those aged 75 years or younger. The same predictive capacity of activity levels was observed for patients with low-grade tumors or with negative cytology results. In particular, sensitivity was 93%, 87%, and 89% for tumor grades 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
Although the test is proven to identify low-grade tumors, it is not recommended for use in routine screening programs because of the low incidence of bladder cancer and should be aimed at high-risk subgroups, noted the authors, from Morgagni-Pierantoni Hospital, Forli.
Personalized therapeutic approaches in ccRCC remain challenging
April 15th 2024"As a kidney cancer community, we need to investigate these molecular subtypes prospectively in clinical trials to determine whether specific subtypes benefit from certain therapies or not," says David A. Braun, MD, PhD.