Non-invasive test developed for urological cancer

Shanghai medical experts have developed a non-invasive method of detecting the early stages of a common urological cancer through a simple urine test.

Urothelial carcinoma is a common urological system cancer. There were 95,000 new patients diagnosed in the nation in 2022.

"If detected in the early stage, the five-year survival rate is over 90 percent after proper treatment," said Dr Ye Dingwei from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, a leading expert in the research.

"The rate is less than 10 percent if the cancer is detected too late. In our clinical practice, about one-fourth of patients have been in middle or terminal stage upon diagnosis.

"Currently, invasive checks through endoscopy plus biopsy is the golden standard for urothelial carcinoma diagnosis. So patients have a low compliance. The previous non-invasive checks usually have poor sensitivity and low accuracy."

To develop a non-invasive, convenient and accurate diagnostic tool, Ye teamed up with other hospitals and biotechnology professionals in the nation to successfully develop a DNA-based molecular diagnosis tool by targeting certain genetic mutations in urine.

A clinical trial was conducted on 947 participants and showed a more than 90 percent accuracy rate. The tool is also able to identify cancer in different stages.

Ye said the tool can reduce the burden of invasive checking methods, provide highly-sensitive and highly-accurate results and enhance treatment outcomes.

The research was published in world-leading journal Molecular Cancer.