Diagnostic Utility of UroVysion Combined With Conventional Urinary Cytology for Urothelial Carcinoma of the Upper Urinary Tract.

Objectives: We prospectively evaluated the utility of UroVysion in urothelial carcinomas of the upper urinary tract (UCUUTs).

Methods: Ninety patients who received nephroureterectomy for UCUUT were enrolled. We performed urinary cytology and UroVysion before nephroureterectomy. We also performed the assays on 23 volunteers without a history of urothelial carcinoma.

Results: Seventy-five high-grade urothelial carcinomas (HGUCs), 10 low-grade urothelial carcinomas, and five other conditions were enrolled. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for HGUC detection by urinary cytology were 28.0%, 100.0%, 100.0%, and 31.6%, respectively; for detection by fluorescence in situ hybridization, these values were 60.0%, 84.0%, 93.8%, and 41.2%, respectively. UroVysion detected the only deletion of 9p21 in eight of 23 samples negative for HGUC by urinary cytology and in three of 23 volunteers.

Conclusions: Combining urinary cytology and UroVysion can improve the diagnostic accuracy of UCUUT. Caution is advised in diagnosing UCUUT based only on deletion of 9p21.