URINARY BASIC FIBROBLAST GROWTH-FACTOR IN PATIENTS WITH BLADDER-CANCER AND BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERTROPHY

Objective To investigate the role of urinary measurements of an angiog enic factor, basic fibroblast growth factor (bPGF), in the assessment of patients with bladder cancer. Patients and methods Urine from 83 pa tients was assayed using a commercially available ELISA for bFGF. Thir ty-eight patients had a bladder tumour and 21 had a history of bladder cancer but no disease at the time of testing, Twenty-four patients ac ted as controls, 16 of whom were about to undergo transurethral resect ion of the prostate (TURF) for benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and eight who had no urological disease. Results Median urinary bFGF was h igher in patients with active bladder cancer than in those with a clea r cystoscopy (5.20 and 2.13 ng/g creatinine, respectively; P<0.005), M edian urinary bFGF was also elevated in patients about to undergo TURP (4.52 ng/g creatinine). Using a threshold value of 6.0 ng/g creatinin e, the sensitivity of the test for detecting cancer was 42% and specif icity was 88%, At a threshold value of 4.0 ng/g the sensitivity was 62 % and the specificity 70%. Conclusion The relationship between urinary basic FGF and the presence of bladder cancer was significant. The tes t is not sufficiently sensitive or specific to use as a screening test for bladder cancer but may be very useful in monitoring the effective ness of systemic therapies in bladder cancer. Elevated levels of bFGF in the urine of patients about to undergo TURP suggests a role for bFG F in the pathogenesis of BPH.