NDRG1 is being investigated as a possible bladder cancer biomarker in the Iraqi population.

With 549,393 new cases recorded in 2018, bladder cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Urinary bladder cancer is the cause of about 3 percent of all new cancer diagnoses and 2.1 percent of all cancer deaths. This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of the N-myc downstream-regulated gene 1(NDRG1) as a biomarker for bladder cancer patients in the Iraqi population. One hundred individuals in the case-control study were enrolled and divided into two groups. The first group included 50 patients diagnosed with a bladder mass and investigated by undergoing cystoscopy examination for transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURB). The second group included 50 healthy individuals who had normal bladder tissue. The results of the present study showed the highest level of (NDRG1) among cases with statically significant association (p=0.001). The ROC curve demonstrated that the protein level of (NDRG1) could distinguish disease patients from healthy individuals with a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 92%. Serum (NDRG1) protein is an efficient and noninvasive tumor marker for diagnosing bladder cancer.
 
Keywords: N-myc downstream-regulated gene 1 (NDRG1), non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURB).