Abstract 551: Identification of gene-expression biomarkers in urine pathology specimens for the detection of bladder cancer

Bladder cancer recurrence screening is typically managed with a combination of urine cytology and cystoscopy, each with its inherent caveats. Cystoscopy is generally considered the gold standard for diagnosing bladder cancer and can yield a valuable biopsy, but is too invasive and expensive for routine screening and surveillance. Voided urine cytology is inexpensive and readily available, but lacks the desired level of sensitivity. Furthermore, up to 20% of urine cytology specimens fall into one of two indeterminate categories that require follow-up testing, typically in the form of an invasive cystoscopy procedure. With the goal of developing a urine-based molecular test for bladder cancer recurrence surveillance, we examined gene expression biomarkers in urine cytopathology specimens. 90 patient urine samples were analyzed: 45 high-grade urothelial carcinoma (HG-UC) and 45 benign samples. All patient samples were submitted to the Johns Hopkins Cytopathology Department for evaluation for bladder cancer via urine cytology. The samples represent patients undergoing bladder cancer recurrence screening and patients without a prior history of bladder cancer presenting with hematuria. The urine sediments were stored in liquid based cytology solution at 4°C for a period of 7 - 10 days, during which time the cytopathology diagnosis was determined from a portion of the sample. Post-diagnosis, the pathology sample “leftover” was analyzed for gene expression. RNA was extracted, amplified and microarray analysis was performed and a panel of molecular biomarkers was identified. Individual genes in this panel discriminate between HG-UC and benign in this training set with an average ROC of 0.86 (p Citation Format: Karen B. Chapman, Liqun Qiu, Jennifer Kidd, Aparna Baxi, Markus D. Lachter, Joseph Wagner, Dorothy L. Rosenthal, Matthew T. Olson. Identification of gene-expression biomarkers in urine pathology specimens for the detection of bladder cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 551. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-551