Urinary bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the United States. The National Cancer Institute estimates that the incidence rates will be 68 810 and the mortality rate will be 14 100 in the year 2008. Although the gold standards cytology and cystoscopy are specific for diagnosing bladder cancer, the former lacks the sensitivity to detect low-grade tumors and the latter is very invasive and expensive. Therefore, scientists are interested in identifying reliable non-invasive biomarkers that could be utilized in screening, leading to early detection and/or in predicting the progression of superficial tumors to invasive higher-stage lesions with high specificity and sensitivity. Several biomarkers that indicate changes in the expression of proteins associated with increased risk have been identified. The purpose of this analysis is to provide an overview of the studies that have been conducted during the last decade that identify diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers via proteomic and genomic advancements.
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