Studies presented at the American Urilogical Association expand the role of the NMP22 Bladder Chek Test. It improves bladder cancer detection to 99 percent, aiding the earlier detection of cancer and is reported to indicate the likelihood of life threatening bladder malignancy. It is recommended for use in screening high risk populations for bladder cancer to save lives and reduce expense. It is also four times more effective than the conventional laboratory urine test in detecting recurrent bladder cancer.
The NMP22 BladderChek Test was developed and commercialized by Matritech, a leading developer and marketer of protein-based diagnostic products for the early detection of cancer. The NMP22 BladderChek Test detects elevated levels of the NMP22 protein marker in a single urine sample. Most healthy individuals have very small amounts of the NMP22 protein marker in their urine, but bladder cancer patients commonly have elevated NMP22 protein marker levels, even at early stages of the disease.
The NMP22 BladderChek Test, a painless and noninvasive assay, is the only in-office test approved by the FDA for both the diagnosis and monitoring of bladder cancer. It is used in a physician's office, requires only four drops of urine and results are available in 30 minutes -- during the patient visit, allowing a rapid, and accurate way to aid in the detection of bladder cancer. The NMP22 BladderChek Test is reimbursed by Medicare and many other medical insurers and has an average cost of less than $30 dollars. It also has been shown to detect over three times as many cancers as the commonly used laboratory-based urine cytology test.
The NMP22 BladderChek Test is not meant to replace cystoscopy (a visual examination of the inside of the bladder with a lighted scope), an examination often considered the gold standard for diagnosing bladder cancer. Every NMP22 BladderChek Test result, however, provides clinically useful information when used in combination with cystoscopy. It is also the only urine test approved by the FDA (by prescription) for home use as an aid in diagnosing bladder cancer.
1. Cell Culture Drug Resistance Assays (CCDRT) are for help in evaluating which chemos would be less likely to have an effect on your own personal cancer cells. For the great majority of people with bladder cancer, the issue of drug resistance testing will not become an issue since 80% of bladder tumors are superficial and intravesical chemotherapy is preferred over systemic in these cases. However, approximately half of those who present with muscle invasive disease upon diagnosis will not survive 5 years in spite of aggressive treatment. For these cases, CCDRT may prove to be a helpful tool.
http://blcwebcafe.org/ccdrt.asp
Posted at 9:33PM on May 27th 2006 by Gregory D. Pawelski