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Urinary fibronectin could help spot bladder cancer

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Measuring urinary levels of fibronectin may to be helpful in diagnosing of bladder cancer, according to Spanish researchers.

“Fibronectin is a structural glycoprotein widely distributed in cells, plasma, and extracellular tissue matrix, lead investigator Dr. Violeta Menendez told Reuters Health. “When tumors are present, the components of the extracellular matrix are degraded by the proteases resulting from metastatic or invasive conditions. Thus, fibronectin may be detected in the urine by immunoassays.”To see if urinary fibronectin levels can help diagnose bladder cancer, Dr. Menendez of Hospital General Universitario de Elche and colleagues evaluated 68 patients with confirmed bladder cancer, 10 patients with benign urologic disease and 45 healthy subjects.Patients with bladder cancer had significantly greater levels of fibronectin and a greater fibronectin/creatinine ratio than did healthy subjects, Dr. Menendez’s group reports in the February issue of Urology.The researchers found that using a cutoff point of 25.6 micrograms/liter for fibronectin and a cutoff point of 36.9 micrograms/gram for the fibronectin/creatine ratio gave a sensitivity of 78% and 75% for bladder cancer. Specificity was 80% for both values. Urinary cytology had a sensitivity of 55%, but a specificity of 100%.The team also found that fibronectin levels and fibronectin to creatinine ratios differed significantly depending on tumor stage and size, and they suggest these findings have “potential value in making therapeutic decisions.”Although this is a “simple technique with high reproducibility,” Dr. Menendez added that its specificity “needs to be studied in the presence of other pathologic features concurrent with bladder cancer.”(Source: Urology 2005;65:284-289: Reuters Health: Oncolink: March 2005.)


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Posted On: 13 March, 2005
Modified On: 16 January, 2014

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