Screening for urinary bladder cancer with the use of nuclear matrix protein (NMP) 22: is it feasible?

Background Tobacco use accounts for the majority of urinary bladder cancer (UBC) cases both in men and women. It is widely accepted that smokers have increased risk of UBC [1-4]. An early diagnosis of UBC is crucial because patients with superficial UBC have much better prognosis than those with invasive UBC [1,2,4,5]. During the past years a variety of urine based markers have been introduced for screening of UBC. Nuclear matrix protein 22 (NMP22) is a nuclear protein that is accountable for chromatid regulation and cell separation during replication. The detection of NMP22 has been used from many clinical studies to evaluate the possibility of UBC screening [2,6-8]. The purpose of this review is to access the current literature in order to determine the usefulness of NMP22 in screening of UBC.