Issue
Copyright (c) 2026 Zijin Wan, Lijun Mao
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The undersigned hereby assign all rights, included but not limited to copyright, for this manuscript to CMB Association upon its submission for consideration to publication on Cellular and Molecular Biology. The rights assigned include, but are not limited to, the sole and exclusive rights to license, sell, subsequently assign, derive, distribute, display and reproduce this manuscript, in whole or in part, in any format, electronic or otherwise, including those in existence at the time this agreement was signed. The authors hereby warrant that they have not granted or assigned, and shall not grant or assign, the aforementioned rights to any other person, firm, organization, or other entity. All rights are automatically restored to authors if this manuscript is not accepted for publication.The Role of Circulating Tumor DNA and Imaging in Refining Indications for Lymphadenectomy during Radical Cystectomy for Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer
Corresponding Author(s) : Lijun Mao
Cellular and Molecular Biology, Vol. 70 No. 7: Issue 7
Abstract
Accurate preoperative detection of lymph node metastasis (LNM) in high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients undergoing radical cystectomy (RC) remains challenging with conventional imaging. Urinary tumor DNA (utDNA) is a promising non-invasive biomarker, but its role in predicting LNM preoperatively is unexplored.To evaluate the diagnostic performance of utDNA, alone and combined with conventional imaging (CT/MRI), for preoperative LNM prediction in high-risk NMIBC.This prospective cohort study enrolled high-risk NMIBC patients scheduled for RC with lymph node dissection (LND). Preoperative urine was analyzed for utDNA via targeted next-generation sequencing. Imaging lymph nodes were considered suspicious based on size/morphology. Histopathology from LND served as the reference standard.Among 20 patients, pN+ was observed in 87%. utDNA was positive in 89.9% of patients. The combination of preoperative utDNA analysis and conventional imaging significantly improves the detection of LNM in high-risk NMIBC patients. This integrated approach holds promise for guiding the extent of lymph node dissection, potentially allowing for more personalized surgical management.
Keywords
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)BibTeX
