Urine cytology - Is it still the gold standard for screening?

Despite low sensitivity fur detecting low-grade urothelial malignancies, urinary cytology remains the gold standard for bladder cancer screening. Efforts to employ ancillary techniques such as flow cytometry, image analysis, cell markers, and p53 staining have not resulted in a desired increase in sensitivity. More recent endeavors have focused on potential bladder tumor markers, the convenience and high sensitivity of which may render urinary cytology obsolete. The salient features of bladder tumor markers and the diagnostic features of urinary cytology are reviewed.