POC Bladder Cancer Test as Accurate as Lab Test

A new point-of-care (POC) test for bladder cancer has been shown to be as accurate as a laboratory-based test, according to a study presented at Perspectives in Bladder Cancer, a conference of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (Monte Carol, Monaco).

The study compared results of the POC test to the results of a microplate format test in analyzing urine from 196 patients at urology clinics. The overall concordance between the two assays was 95%. The microplate format test identified 16 samples as positive, while the POC test identified 15 as positive; and the microplate test detected 171 negative samples, while the POC test identified 163. Both tests detect nuclear matrix protein (NMP) found in the nucleus of cells. NMP is elevated in bladder cancer patients by 10-100 times and is released into the urine of bladder cancer patients. The BladderChek test is to be used in conjunction with cystoscopy.

Both the POC test and the microplate test, which has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are the products of Matritech, Inc. (Newton, MA, USA). NMP tests have been found in other studies to be twice as sensitive as cytology in detecting low-grade tumors. The POC test can produce results while the patient is in a doctor's office, whereas lab tests can take two to three days to deliver results.




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