[Significance of a simple assay of urine telomerase activity for the detection of bladder cancer].

We developed a simple urine telomerase activity assay by a modification of the TeloTAGGG telomerase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. We conjugated digoxygenin (DIG) with the CX primer of omitting hybridization of PCR products and DIG-labeled probe. The sensitivity and specificity of bladder cancer diagnosis on 100 patients with bladder cancer and 25 healthy volunteers using the simple urine telomerase activity measurement were 81% and 92%, respectively. The positive rate for bladder cancer by the present assay system was affected by neither tumor grade nor invasiveness. The diagnostic potential of the present method is superior to the conventional urine telomerase assay kit and urine nuclear matrix protein-22 (NMP22). The present method is simple, and can be used for mass screening of bladder cancer.