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Aim: To analyze the potential of 14 cancer-associated genes, including six miRNAs, for bladder cancer (BC) diagnosis in urine. Patients & methods: DNA methylation levels of 14 genes were analyzed in urine of 72 BC patients and 75 healthy controls using quantitative methylation-specific PCR. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine an optimal marker panel. Results: Ten genes were significantly hypermethylated in BC patients. The GHSR/MAL combination showed the best diagnostic performance, reaching a sensitivity of 92% (95% CI: 86–99) and a specificity of 85% (95% CI: 76–94). Conclusion: We identified a novel two-gene panel with a high diagnostic accuracy for BC that can be applied in a noninvasive, urine-based test.

DNA methylation analysis of full void urine and urine pellet seems promising for bladder cancer (BC) detection and surveillance. Urinary cell-free DNA from urine supernatant is now gaining interest for other molecular tests in BC. This study aims to evaluate which urine fraction is preferred for BC diagnosis using methylation markers: full void urine, urine pellet or supernatant. Methylation levels of nine markers were determined in the three urine fractions and correlated with their respective tumor tissues in BC patients and compared to controls. For all markers and marker panel GHSR/MAL, diagnostic performance was determined by calculating the area under the curve (AUC) of the respective receiver operating characteristic curves. For most of the markers, there was a significant correlation between the methylation levels in each of the urine fractions and the matched tumor tissues. Urine pellet was the most representative fraction. Generally, AUCs for BC diagnosis were comparable among the fractions. The highest AUC was obtained for GHSR/MAL in urine pellet: AUC 0.87 (95% confidence interval: 0.73–1.00), corresponding to a sensitivity of 78.6% and a specificity of 91.7%. Our results demonstrate that cellular and cell-free DNA in urine can be used for BC diagnosis by urinary methylation analysis. Based on our comparative analysis and for practical reasons, we recommend the use of urine pellet.

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Background The development of accurate urinary biomarkers for non-invasive and cost-effective detection of primary and recurrent bladder tumours is recognized as one of the major clinical needs in bladder cancer diagnostics. The purposes of this study were (1) to validate the results of a previous technical comparison by determining the diagnostic performance of nine methylation markers in urine pellet compared to full void urine, and (2) to validate the diagnostic performance of the optimal marker panel GHSR/MAL from a previous exploratory study in a preclinical setting. Methods Urine samples of 108 patients with bladder cancer and 100 age- and gender-matched controls were prospectively collected for methylation analysis. Urinary methylation levels of the markers FAM19A4, GHSR, MAL, miR-129, miR-935, PHACTR3, PRDM14, SST and ZIC1 were determined with quantitative methylation-specific PCR in urine pellet. Area under the curves (AUCs) were determined for individual markers and the marker panel GHSR/MAL. The diagnostic performance of the marker panel GHSR/MAL was evaluated in the total study population and in different subgroups of patients with bladder cancer using the Chi-square test. The diagnostic accuracy was assessed by leave-one-out cross-validation. Results All nine urinary methylation markers (FAM19A4, GHSR, MAL, miR-129, miR-935, PHACTR3, PRDM14, SST and ZIC1) showed significantly higher methylation levels in bladder cancer patients than in controls (p < 0.001). Area under the curves (AUCs) of the nine methylation markers tested in urine pellet were similar to AUCs in full void urine of an independent previous cohort. GHSR/MAL reached an AUC of 0.89 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84–0.94), at 80% sensitivity and 93% specificity. Sensitivity of GHSR/MAL increased with higher tumour grades, higher tumour stages, in primary vs. recurrent tumours, and in males vs. females. Conclusions This technical validation supports the robustness of DNA methylation analysis in urine pellet and full void urine for the non-invasive detection of bladder cancer. Subsequent preclinical validation confirmed the diagnostic potential of GHSR/MAL. These findings underline the diagnostic potential of the marker panel GHSR/MAL for future bladder cancer diagnostics.

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In urogenital cancers, urine as a liquid biopsy for non-invasive cancer detection holds great promise for future clinical application. Their anatomical position allows for the local shedding of tumor DNA, but recent data indicate that tumor DNA in urine might also result from transrenal excretion. This study aims to assess the origin of tumor-associated DNA in the urine of 5 bladder and 25 cervical cancer patients. Besides natural voided urine, paired urine samples were collected in which contact with the local tumor was circumvented to bypass local shedding. The latter concerned nephrostomy urine in bladder cancer patients, and catheter urine in cervical cancer patients. Methylation levels of GHSR, SST, and ZIC1 were determined using paired bladder tumor tissues and cervical scrapes as a reference. Urinary methylation levels were compared to natural voided urine of matched controls. To support methylation results, mutation analysis was performed in urine and tissue samples of bladder cancer patients. Increased methylation levels were not only found in natural voided urine from bladder and cervical cancer patients, but also in the corresponding nephrostomy and catheter urine. DNA mutations detected in bladder tumor tissues were also detectable in all paired natural voided urine as well as in a subset of nephrostomy urine. These results provide the first evidence that the suitability of urine as a liquid biopsy for urogenital cancers relies both on the local shedding of tumor cells and cell fragments, as well as the transrenal excretion of tumor DNA into the urine.