Determination of telomerase activity in exfoliated cells in urine for the diagnosis of bladder carcinoma / 中华检验医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective In order to find a more sensitive and specific noninvasive assay for the diagnosis of bladder carcinoma, the authors tested the exfoliated cells from patient′s voided urine for the presence of telomerase activity and evaluated its clinical significance.Methods PCR-ELISA assay was used to determine the presence of telomerase activity in voided urine samples from patients with bladder carcinoma, fhematuria of benign causes and from normal, healthy volunteers.Results Telomerase activity was detected in 14 of 18 tumor samples, while none of the hematuria samples and normal, healthy volunteers′ samples. Conclusions Telomerase activity could be detected in most urine samples of bladder carcinoma patients and it is more sensitive and specific than other assays, therefore, would be a good diagnostic marker.