Use of the novel marker BLCA-1 for the detection of bladder cancer

Purpose: Bladder cancer specific nuclear structural alterations have been identified. We examined the expression pattern of one of these proteins, BLCA-1, in tissue and urine samples from individuals with bladder cancer as well as in samples from normal controls. Materials and Methods: BLCA-1 sequence data were used to produce antibodies to this protein, which were used in immunoblot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Results: BLCA-1 was detectable in tissue from patients with bladder cancer but not in normal adjacent areas of the bladder or in normal donor bladder tissue. This protein was also detectable in the urine of patients with bladder cancer by immunoblot and immunoassay. Using a cutoff of 0.025 optical density units (absorbance value) BLCA-1 was detected in 20 of 25 urine samples from patients with bladder cancer but in only 6 of 46 normal, high risk, prostate or renal cancer samples tested, resulting in a test with 80% sensitivity and 87% specificity. Expression of this protein did not appear to correlate with tumor grade. Conclusions: This research indicates that BLCA-1 is a urine based marker of bladder cancer which may be useful for the detection of this disease.