Photocure ASA announced the publication of the study "Racial Difference in Detection Rate of Bladder Cancer Using Blue Light Cystoscopy: Insights from a Multicenter Registry" in the journal Cancers this week. This study aims to evaluate heterogeneity in characteristics of blue light cystoscopy (BLC®) for detection of malignant lesions among various races with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). The study author Sia Daneshmand, MD and the participants of the BLC with Cysview Study Group collected clinicopathologic information from adult patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) or biopsy who were enrolled in the multi-institutional BLC Cysview registry between April 2014 and February 2021.

The primary outcome was detection of any malignant lesion on final pathology. Sensitivity, negative and positive predictive values for detection of malignant lesions were calculated for BLC, white light cystoscopy (WLC), and the combination of both modalities. Overall, 2379 separate samples were identified from 1292 patients, of whom, 1095 (85%) were White/Caucasian, 96 (7%) Black/African American, 51 (4%) Asian and 50 (4%) Hispanic.

The sensitivity of WLC, BLC, and the combination of both for any malignant lesion was 88.7%, 95.8% and 99%, respectively, in the total cohort (P<0.001). BLC sensitivity vs. WLC was most significantly pronounced in the Asian population (96% vs 78%, P<0.001).

In all races, the sensitivity of BLC was significantly higher than WLC for detection of CIS (P<0.001). Also, the addition of BLC to standard WLC increased the detection rate by 10% for any malignant lesion in the total cohort. This rate increased to 18% in Asian patients.

Positive predictive value of BLC was also the higher in Asian population (94.4%).