Urine Markers and Methods for Detection of Bladder Cancer and Treatment Thereof

A method for detecting bladder cancer in a patient suspected of having bladder cancer, comprising;

• (a) detecting in the urine of said patient, the accumulation of the markers homeobox A13 (HOXA13) and midkine (MDK), using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods;
• and
• (b) measuring the mean and standard deviation of expression of each of said markers in a group of normal subjects not having bladder cancer;
• wherein if said accumulation of said markers in said patient is greater than about 1.5 times the accumulation is said group of normal subjects, said patient has a diagnosis of bladder cancer.

A method for treating a patient having bladder cancer, comprising:

• (a) determining, in a patient's urine, the ratio of accumulation of the markers TOP2A and IGFBP5;
• (b) determining the log 2 fold change ratio of said combination in said urine, where a ratio between about −10 and about −6.5 indicates presence of transitional cell carcinoma, a ratio between about −5 and −2.5 indicates presence of invasive stage 1 cancer, and a ratio of greater than −2.5 indicates presence of invasive stage 2-3 cancer;
• (c) if said patent has transitional cell carcinoma, said patient is treated with intravesicular chemotherapy and/or intravesicular BCG immunotherapy;
• and
• (d) if said patient has invasive bladder cancer, said patient is treated with surgical resection, and/or intravesicular chemotherapy, and/or intravesicular BCG immunotherapy.