Diagnostic Role of Survivin in Urinary Bladder Cancer

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Early diagnosis of carcinoma of bladder remains a challenge. Survivin, a member of theinhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) protein family, is frequently activated in bladder carcinoma. The objective of thisstudy was to investigate urinary survivin as a marker for diagnosis of urinary bladder. Materials and <br/><b>Methods</b>:We examined urinary survivin concentration in 28 healthy individuals, 46 positive controls and 117 cases ofhistologically proven TCC prior to transurethral resection, using ELISA, and compared values with findings forurinary cytology. <br/><b>Results</b>: Survivin was found to be significantly higher in the cancer group (P<0.05). A cut offvalue of 17.7 pg/ml was proposed, with an approximate sensitivity of 82.9% and specificity of 81.1% (P<0.0001),whereas urine cytology had a sensitivity of 66.7% and a specificity of 96.0%. <br/><b>Conclusions</b>: Urinary survivin canbe used as a non-invasive diagnostic biomarker for TCC bladder, both for primary and recurrent disease.