TEST:

URO17™

In short, find a marker that can specificly diagnose bladder cancer at initial stages without needing more elaborate, usually invasive tests, is shown as a promising tool for studies in this area.

Limitations include cross-sectional design and convenience sampling. URO17 may improve sensitivity of urine cytology in the detection of urothelial cancer, though further study is required to refine the application of this biomarker in clinical practice.

URO17® has a potential to be a reliable test for diagnosis and follow up of urothelial cancer patients and a screening tool adjunct to flexible cystoscopy.

The greatest increase was seen in the proportion of patients unwilling to accept a urinary biomarker regardless of its sensitivity, rising from 29.6% to 38.4%. Although many patients attending a RAHC would be willing to accept a urinary biomarker test in place of conventional flexible cystoscopy for the detection of bladder cancer, effective patient, public and clinician engagement will be necessary at all stages of implementation if it is to become an established component of the diagnostic pathway.

Keratin 17 is highly expressed in almost all cases of urothelial carcinoma including those of papillary and squamous characteristics, confirming the high sensitivity of K17 in detecting all categories of urothelial carcinoma. Keratin 17 was also observed in many benign and premalignant conditions such as cystitis, PUNLMP, and metaplasia suggesting the K17 expression can result from a trauma to urothelium that could lead to activation of K17 in regenerating urothelial cells. Additional studies are ongoing to confirm and expand the utility of the K17 biomarker in bladder cancer.

"Acupath Labs and UroGPO announced in April a partnership to make URO17® available to the UroGPO membership nationwide. URO17® is a non-invasive, cost-effective urine-based biomarker used in diagnosis and management of bladder cancer....With a high sensitivity and negative predictive value (NPV), URO17 can provide invaluable information and help clinicians better risk stratify patients, identifying those that require additional and often invasive follow up treatments, and those that do not."