This study addresses the diagnostic value of the Nuclear Matrix Protein 22 (NMP22) test and the Urinary Bladder Cancer (UBC II) test, in comparison to bladder wash cytology for the detection of early recurrence of bladder cancer. Patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder (TCC, n = 60) and patients with benign urological diseases (n = 30) were included in this study. Voided urine samples were divided into 2 aliquots: aliquot 1 was assayed for NMP22 and aliquot 2 was tested for UBC

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... II. Saline bladder washings were used for cytologic examination. Urine samples from TCC patients were collected before transurethral resection and on postoperative day 10. On day 10, 15 NMP22 results and 7 UBC II results exceeded the normal ranges; 4 of the cytology samples were positive for malignancy. Based on cystoscopic findings at 3 mo post-resection, 21 of the cases were classified as early recurrence; 11 of the early recurrences had been in the elevated NMP22 group, 4 in the elevated UBC II group, and 3 in the positive cytology group at 10 days post-resection. The NMP22 test gave the highest sensitivity for detecting early recurrent tumors (11 of 21, 52%). Such high sensitivity did not occur with the UBC II test (4 of 21, 19%) or cytology (3 of 21, 14%). These differences were significant (p = 0.024 and 0.009, respectively). Thus, the NMP22 test showed superiority over the other tests for detection of early recurrence of bladder cancer.