[Bladder tumor antigen test versus urinary cytology in patients with bladder tumors]

The value of the BARD bladder tumour antigen (BTA) test for the diagnosis of bladder tumour was compared to urinary cytology. A total of 60 patients with bladder tumours (Category Ta: 39 patients and Category T1-4: 21 patients) were investigated. Urinary cytology was found to be more sensitive than the BTA test. The overall sensitivity of cytology was 0.63 compared to 0.27 for the BTA test. The sensitivity of both tests improved with increasing tumour severity. For Ta tumours and T1-4 tumours the sensitivity of cytology was 0.46 and 0.95 respectively, and for the BTA test it was 0.13 and 0.53 respectively. We conclude that urinary cytology is superior to the BTA test. The BTA test cannot be recommended either for bladder tumour screening or monitoring for recurrence because of too many false negative results. Because of its high specificity (0.93), a positive BTA test might reduce the number of flexible cystoscopies, and prepare the patient directly for tumour resection.