New tests now in development could be the key to early detection and treatment of bladder cancer. Eichrom Technologies of Darien, IL, has licensed a novel and highly specific early bladder cancer detection technology, BLCA-4, created at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. The company is developing a qualitative one-step rapid test and an ELISA-based quantitative assay that data show will be significantly more accurate and specific than any other urine-based tests now available for detecting bladder cancer.

The technology was developed by Dr. Robert Getzenberg and his research group at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Getzenberg’s research has identified six proteins specific to bladder cancer tissue (BLCA 1-6) from inside the nucleus of bladder cancer cells that are not found in other types of cancer such as prostate, breast, kidney or cervical.

In a study with 55 patients, BLCA-4 was found to be 96.4 percent sensitive and 100 percent specific for distinguishing patients with bladder cancer from those without the disease. BLCA-4 also was detected throughout the bladder in patients with bladder cancer, which indicates that it may be an early marker of the disease. If this proves true in clinical trials using larger populations, early detection of bladder cancer will be dramatically improved and significantly less invasive.

Multi-site clinical trials are underway to validate the use of BLCA-4 in the diagnosis and monitoring of bladder cancer. The trial will be coordinated by Badrinath Konety, Ph.D., in the Department of Urology at the University of Pittsburgh.a life science and biotechnology development company headquartered in Darien, IL.