Korean scientists have devised a new urine test to assist early identification of both pancreatic and prostate cancer – and report it achieves a 99% detection rate.
The study from the Korea Institute of Materials Science, published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics, used urine to detect cancer metabolites and noted: ‘Urine is a promising biofluid for disease diagnosis because most metabolic components are excreted via the urinary tract.’
By developing a Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor, the scientists detected ‘hot spots’ in urine samples which amplified certain molecular compounds that point towards cancer.
They also created a urine test strip and hand-held testing machine, and obtained urine samples from 19 patients with pancreatic cancer and 39 with prostate cancer, plus 40 cancer-free males and 20 cancer-free females.
The test detected 99% of the cancerous samples and lead researcher Ho Sang Jung told medicalnewstoday.com: ‘Since early diagnosis is most important for incurable diseases such as cancer, we expect this technology to provide a new diagnostic method.
‘The next step in this research is broadening applicable cancer types. Now our team just finished testing clinical samples of pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer and colorectal cancer simultaneously, and our team is expected to submit an article this year.’
US surgeon Dr Domenech Asbun at the Miami Cancer Institute commented: ‘The findings in this study may provide an important step forward in finding practical ways to diagnose cancers that often grow undetected.
‘If the results can be reproduced on a larger scale, these tests may allow for early treatment of cancers that are quite often deadly when undetected for too long.’
In addition to expanding cancer types, Jung envisions at-home testing kits in the future, explaining: ‘Because the developed diagnostic method uses urine, it is non-invasive and thus would be more beneficial in terms of usability when it is applied for self-testing or rapid-kit-testing at home, pharmacy or any places where they can provide some clinical information.’
