New Prostate Cancer Test

A simple urine test under development for prostate cancer detection can now use urine samples collected at home, according to University of East Anglia and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. The test is early in its development, but has the potential to offer a simple, non-invasive way of predicting aggressive prostate cancer.
Urine samples were collected from more than 500 men. Most had prostate cancer. The researchers looked at the expression of 167 genes in the samples. They found 35 genes that can help predict how dangerous a prostate cancer might be. They also tracked the men's health for an average of six years. The profiles of 23 men whose cancer progressed were significantly different than those whose cancer did not progress.

Scientists pioneered the test which diagnoses aggressive prostate cancer and predicts whether patients will require treatment up to five years earlier than standard clinical methods. Their latest study shows how the ‘PUR’ test (Prostate Urine Risk) could be performed on samples collected at home, so men do not need to come into the clinic to provide a sample. It provides biomarker levels from the prostate that are much higher and more consistent. It looks at gene expression in urine samples and accurately predicts aggressive prostate cancer, and predicts whether patients will require treatment up to five years earlier than standard clinical methods.

The research team provided 14 participants with an At Home Collection Kit, and instructions. They then compared the results of their home urine samples with samples collected after a digital rectal examination. “We found that the urine samples taken at home showed the biomarkers for prostate cancer much more clearly than after a rectal examination.

Robert Mills, Consultant Surgeon in Urology at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, said, “This is a very exciting development as this test gives us the possibility of differentiating those who do, from those who do not have prostate cancer so avoiding putting a lot of men through unnecessary investigations.