Advances in endoscopic imaging technology may improve sensitivity for the detection of bladder cancer and provide a more complete understanding of the urothelial landscape, and it also may lead to improved short-term and long-term cancer control. Fluorescence cystoscopy requires intravesical administration of a photosensitizing agent (5-aminolevulinic acid or hexaminolevulinate), and imaging with a blue-light endoscopy system demonstrably improves the detection of papillary and flat bladder lesions compared with conventional white-light cystoscopy. Prospective phase 3 clinical trials have demonstrated improved diagnostic ability, enhanced tumor resection, and a small but significant reduction in recurrence-free survival. Optical coherence tomography delineates subsurface microarchitecture information about bladder lesions in real time and has the ability to discriminate between noninvasive and invasive cancers. Narrow-band imaging may augment white-light cystoscopy by providing increased contrast between normal and abnormal tissue on the basis of neovascularity. Confocal laser endoscopy has been applied to the urinary tract using thinner probes adapted from use in gastrointestinal malignancies and provides exquisite images at microscopic resolution. More technology is on the horizon that may further enhance our ability to detect and accurately stage bladder tumors and distinguish benign from malignant or dysplastic lesions.
Keywords: aminolevulinic acid; bladder cancer; cystoscopy; narrow-band imaging; optical coherence tomography; photodynamic diagnosis.
© 2014 American Cancer Society.