Scientists are developing a new biosensor that can non-invasively detect prostate cancer through a urine sample.
Prostate cancer is the second most prevalent type of cancer, and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths, in men. Early detection is key to survival, researchers said.
To screen patients for prostate cancer, medical professionals take a blood sample and look for prostate- specific antigen (PSA).
If a high level of PSA is found, the patient is suspected to have prostate cancer and required to have a prostate biopsy.
PSA tests are far from providing satisfactory diagnoses and result in a large number of unnecessary prostate biopsies due to a high false-positive rate.
This is because PSA elevation may also occur in men with infection and chronic inflammation or benign prostatic hyperplasia.
"False positive diagnoses are very common in prostate cancer tests," said Jing Yong Ye, professor at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) in the US.
"As a result, a patient may undergo a biopsy he doesn't need, which is painful and could cause an infection. Also, because prostate cancer is highly heterogeneous and even multicore prostate biopsy only samples a few local areas, it can easily be missed by clinicians," said Ye.
Since about 70 per cent of men who go through the biopsy process are found to be cancer-free, Ye wanted to look for a better way.
His research team will develop a non-invasive imaging approach to check urine samples, since cells from the prostate are shed into urine naturally.
"The system we are developing utilizes a sensitive biosensor, which allows us to distinguish cancer cells from normal cells based on a unique feature of the cells," he said.
"If you can detect a cancer cell, you're starting from a more precise place and you can give a more accurate diagnosis," he said.
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