Combined assay of CYFRA21-1, telomerase and vascular endothelial growth factor in the detection of bladder transitional cell carcinoma

Background: CYFRA21-1, telomerase and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are regarded as useful tumor markers in the detection of bladder transitional cell carcinoma. However, the sensitivity of each single marker seemed to be unsatisfactory. In the current study, we assessed the sensitivity of the combined assay of these three markers in the detection of human bladder transitional cell carcinoma. Methods: Voided urine samples of 100 patients with bladder transitional cell carcinoma were obtained and each sample was aliquoted for the various assay. Urinary CYFRA21-1 and VEGF were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and telomerase detected by the telomeric repeat amplification protocol. The sensitivity of combined assay was compared to that of each single marker and urinary cytology, respectively. Results: In the 100 patients, the sensitivity was 74% for urinary CYFRA21-1, 71% for telomerase, 69% for VEGF, and 38% for cytology. CYFRA21-1, telomerase and VEGF proved significantly more sensitive than cytology, respectively (P = 0.000). The sensitivity of the combined assay in the current study was 94% and it was significantly higher than that of cytology, urinary telomerase, CYFRA21-1 or VEGF (P = 0.000). In 50 patients with hematuria but without bladder cancer, the overall specificity of the assays was 78% for CYFRA21-1, 84% for telomerase, 88% for VEGF, and 92% for cytology. Conclusions: Combined assay of the markers which show different characteristics of the tumor behaviors seemed to be of interest in the detection of bladder transitional cell carcinoma.