An international team of cancer researchers have developed a highly sensitive and specific non-invasive test as a biomarker to be used in the early detection of urothelial cancers called UroSEEK as published in eLife.
Testing non-invasively identifies genetic errors in cells that are shed into urine, and scans for mutations in 11 cancer driving genes associated with urinary tract cancers and evidence of chromosomal imbalance in analysis.
570 patients were identified which were at risk for bladder cancer to participate in this study. 83% of the participants tested positive with UroSEEK of those who developed bladder cancer. Rate of detection increased to 95% when UroSEEK was used in combination with urine cytology. 56 of the participants were found to have upper tract urothelial cancer of which using UroSEEK 75% tested positive.
Researchers are hopefully that UroSEEK will be adapted and applied to large patient populations to screen for upper urothelial and bladder cancer, and the use will be effective in helping patients at risk for developing these cancers with early detection and improving outcomes.
