Usefulness of the BTA stat Test for the diagnosis of bladder cancer

Objectives. To evaluate the usefulness of the Bard BTA stat Test in the dia gnosis and follow-up of bladder cancer and to compare this test to cytologi c analysis and cystoscopy, routine diagnostic methods. Methods. Three hundred seventy-nine patients being followed up because of b ladder cancer or with symptoms suggestive of bladder cancer underwent cysto scopy, cytologic analysis, and the BTA stat Test using a recently voided ur ine sample. In suspected cases, transurethral resection and histopathologic analysis were performed. Results. Of the 379 patients, 235 proved to have bladder cancer and 144 did not. The sensitivity was 73.62% for the BTA stat, 61.70% for cytologic exa mination, and 99.57% for cystoscopy The specificity was 83.33% for the BTA stat, 92.36% for cytologic analysis, and 85.42% for cystoscopy. The BTA sta t Test's sensitivity for grades 1, 2, and 3 tumor was 47.27%, 69.15%, and 9 5.35%, respectively. The sensitivity of cytologic analysis was 30.91%, 55.3 2%, and 88.37%. The BTA stat Test's sensitivity for stage was 45.65% in Sta ge Ta, 75.52% in T1, and 95.56% in Stage T2-4; the cytologic results were 2 8.26%, 65.03%, and 84.44%, respectively. The combination of both tests impr oved the sensitivity and decreased the specificity slightly. Conclusions. The high sensitivity of the BTA stat Test, together with the d ata obtained from the parameters used for the evaluation of the test, demon strate the better results of the BTA stat Test compared with cytologic anal ysis, making it a thoroughly valid diagnostic tool in the diagnosis of blad der cancer. In our opinion, the BTA stat Test can replace the use of cytolo gic analysis in the diagnosis of bladder cancer, but not the use of cystosc opy. UROLOGY 57: 685-689, 2001. (C) 2001, Elsevier Science Inc.