Hematuria as a Marker of Occult Urinary Tract Cancer: Advice for High-Value Care From the American College of Physicians

Background: The presence of blood in the urine, or hematuria, is a common finding in clinical practice and can sometimes be a sign of occult cancer. This article describes the clinical epidemiology of hematuria and the current state of practice and science in this context and provides suggestions for clinicians evaluating patients with hematuria.

Methods: A narrative review of available clinical guidelines and other relevant studies on the evaluation of hematuria was conducted, with particular emphasis on considerations for urologic referral.

High-value care advice 1: Clinicians should include gross hematuria in their routine review of systems and specifically ask all patients with microscopic hematuria about any history of gross hematuria.

High-value care advice 2: Clinicians should not use screening urinalysis for cancer detection in asymptomatic adults.

High-value care advice 3: Clinicians should confirm heme-positive results of dipstick testing with microscopic urinalysis that demonstrates 3 or more erythrocytes per high-powered field before initiating further evaluation in all asymptomatic adults.

High-value care advice 4: Clinicians should refer for further urologic evaluation in all adults with gross hematuria, even if self-limited.

High-value care advice 5: Clinicians should consider urology referral for cystoscopy and imaging in adults with microscopically confirmed hematuria in the absence of some demonstrable benign cause.

High-value care advice 6: Clinicians should pursue evaluation of hematuria even if the patient is receiving antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy.

High-value care advice 7: Clinicians should not obtain urinary cytology or other urine-based molecular markers for bladder cancer detection in the initial evaluation of hematuria.

Author/s:

Nielsen, Matthew, Qaseem, Amir, High Value Care Task Force of the American College of Physicians

Cancer Prevalence and Risk Stratification in Adults Presenting With Hematuria: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Devin Evans — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Date Added:

January 27, 2021

Journal/Publication:

Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes

Publisher:

Mayo Clinic

Publication Date:

January 21, 2021

URL:

Cancer Prevalence and Risk Stratification in Adults Presenting With Hematuria: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Type:

Clinical Research Results

Format:

Article

DOI (1):

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocpiqo.2020.12.001

Keywords

Carcinoma, Renal Cell

MeSH

Carcinoma, Renal Cell

Hematuria

Cystoscopy

cohort studies

Ethics Committees, Research

Kidney Neoplasms

This study documents the low prevalences of urinary tract cancers in patients presenting with either gross or microscopic hematuria. James W. Mold, MP

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Abstract

Objective

To calculate the prevalence of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UT-UC), and lower urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (LT-UC) in patients with gross asymptomatic microhematuria (AMH) and symptomatic microhematuria (SMH).

Patients and Methods

This study was a population-based retrospective descriptive study. The study was approved by both the Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board and the Olmsted Medical Center Institutional Review Board, and the population used was Olmsted County residents. A total of 4453 patients who presented with an initial episode of hematuria from January 1, 2000, through December 30, 2010, were included. Of the 4453 patients (median age, 58 years; interquartile range, 44.6-73.3 years), 1487 (33.4%) had gross hematuria, 2305 (51.8%) had AMH, and 661 (14.8%) had SMH.

Results

In the 1487 patients with gross hematuria, the prevalence of RCC, UT-UC, and LT-UC was 1.3%, 0.8%, and 9.0%, respectively. In the 2305 patients with AMH, the prevalence of RCC, UT-UC, and LT-UC was 0.2%, 0.3%, and 1.6%, respectively. In the 661 patients with SMH, the prevalence of RCC, UT-UC, and LT-UC was 0.6%, 0.2%, and 0.3%, respectively. Age was the most relevant risk factor for any hematuria type.

Conclusion

This unique cohort study reported that the prevalence of RCC or UC in patients with AMH and SMH was low, especially in the young cohort, and a large number of intense work-ups, such as cystoscopy and computed tomography urography, currently conducted could be omitted if stratified by hematuria type and age.

Author/s:

Takeuchi, Mitsuru, McDonald, Jennifer S., Takahashi, Naoki, Frank, Igor, Thompson, R. H., King, Bernard F., Kawashima, Akira