Urine cytology and commercially available urine-based markers for monitoring of bladder urothelial carcinoma

Bladder cancer is currently diagnosed using cystoscopy and cytology in patients with suspicious signs and symptoms. These tests are also used to monitor patients with a history of bladder cancer. The recurrence rate for bladder cancer is high, thus necessitating long-term follow-up. Urine cytology requires an experienced cytopathologist. It has high specificity, but low sensitivity for low-grade bladder tumors. Recently, multiple non-invasive urine-based bladder cancer tests have been developed. Many markers have already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for bladder cancer surveillance, but only one marker is approved for detection of bladder cancer in high risk patients (NMP22 BladderChek).