Bladder cancers are usually curable, by surgical or transurethral excision, if diagnosed at an early stage. Tumor derived mutations in oncogenes potentially provide specific markers for the detection of surgically resectable tumors. The detection of point mutations of H-ras oncogene correlated with this disease. DNA sequences produced by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) can be considered for this application, because theoretically bladder tumors should shed cells containing this mutation into the urine. We examined urine from 21 individuals with bladder cancer before any treatment, as well as tissue specimens from the excised tumor and we found 10 mutations of the H-ras gene at codon 12 in the urine (47.61%) and 14 mutations in the tumor specimens (66.66%). We were able to detect nearly 50% of the patients with bladder tumors using this method. We also studied two relapses; in one case (which presented the mutation in the original tumor and the urine) the relapse grade had progressed from II to III. In the other case the relapse grade stayed at III but it presented for the first time the studied mutation in the urine. These results provide the theoretical and technical basis for the detection of bladder tumors by a non-invasive method and possibly for the evaluation of the invasiveness of the disease.

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