Influence of hematuria and infection on diagnostic accuracy of urinary LASP1: a new biomarker for bladder carcinoma

Abstract

Aim: To further promote the clinical use of urinary LASP1 as biomarker for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder regarding limitations and alternative testing systems. Patients & methods: Urine stabilization, alternative measurement systems and limitations by erythrocyte contamination and infection were investigated in 246 patients. Results: Thimerosal allowed sufficient stabilization. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis was not influenced by presence of erythrocytes or leukocytes and reliably urothelial carcinoma of the bladder but cell counts in specimen were low. Cut-off values of <25 leukocytes and <200 erythrocytes/µl resulted in sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of 0.59, 0.80, 0.80 and 0.59, respectively. Conclusion: Hematuria up to 200 erythrocytes/µl but not presence of leukocytes may be tolerated for this promising marker.