Study of urine-based mRNA biomarkers for early detection of nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC)

•Urinary mRNAs showed higher expression in NMIBC patients than in controls.•A 5-mRNA panel revealed a desirable potential for noninvasive NMIBC detection.•The 5-mRNAs panel showed better diagnostic power than single biomarkers. Research into new noninvasive diagnostic tools for bladder cancer (BCa) with superior sensitivity and specificity to cystoscopy and cytology is promising. The current study evaluated a diagnostic panel of tumor progression-related mRNAs in urine samples of NMIBC patients and controls. This study carefully selected 129 participants, including 67 NMIBC patients, 31 hematuria patients due to nonmalignant urological disorders, and 31 healthy individuals. Subsequently, ten significantly dysregulated mRNAs were identified in the urine specimens of these participants using RT-qPCR. Expression levels of CA9, CDK1, CD24, TERT, CEP55, TOP2A, IQGAP3, UBE2C, and CRH in urine samples from NMIBC patients were higher than those in healthy individuals. Notably, CD24, TOP2A, IQGAP3, UBE2C, and CRH mRNA levels in NMIBC patients were significantly higher than in the hematuria group. In diagnosing low-grade from healthy and hematuria groups, analysis of the 5-gene profile yielded a sensitivity of 98 % and a specificity of 100 % and 90 %, respectively. For diagnosing high-grade tumors from healthy and hematuria groups, sensitivity was 96 % and 100 %, and specificity was 100 % and 83 %, respectively. These results emphasize the potential application of urine mRNA profiling in the early diagnosis of NMIBC and provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms involved.