Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
GLOBE SCIENTIFIC, LLC

Download Mobile App




Advanced Urinary Analysis Method Expected to Significantly Reduce Number of Prostate Cancer Biopsies

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 18 Mar 2020
A team of British researchers has developed an advanced, RNA and DNA biomarker-based urine test for diagnosis of prostate cancer, which is expected to significantly reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies performed every year.

Prostate cancer exhibits extreme clinical heterogeneity; 10‐year survival rates following diagnosis approach 84%, yet prostate cancer is still responsible for 13% of all cancer deaths in men in the United Kingdom. More...
Current practice assesses a patient's disease using a PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood test, prostate biopsy, and MRI. However, up to 60% of men with a raised PSA level are negative for prostate cancer on biopsy.

Coupled with the high rates of diagnosis, prostate cancer is more often a disease that men die with rather than from. This illustrates the urgent need for clinical tools able to selectively identify those men with cancers that only require monitoring from those men harboring a disease that requires intervention.

Toward this end, investigators at the University of East Anglia (Norwich, United Kingdom) sought to develop a multivariable risk prediction model through the integration of clinical, urine‐derived cell‐free messenger RNA (cf‐RNA) and urine cell DNA methylation data capable of noninvasively detecting significant prostate cancer in patients in lieu of biopsy.

The investigators analyzed urine samples collected from 207 patients with clinical suspicion of prostate cancer (PSA greater than four nanograms per milliliter, adverse digital rectal examination, age, or lower urinary tract symptoms).

Machine learning techniques were used to integrate the biological markers into a prediction formula called ExoMeth. Results revealed that as the ExoMeth risk score increased, the likelihood of high‐grade disease being detected on biopsy was significantly greater.

Senior author Dr. Daniel Brewer, senior lecturer in cancer studies at the University of East Anglia, said, "It is still very early days for this research, but if ExoMeth were validated in a future study with many more patients, we could see an approximate 60% reduction in unnecessary biopsies in around five years."

The study was published in the March 9, 2020, online edition of the journal The Prostate.

Related Links:
University of East Anglia


New
Gold Member
Latex Test
SLE-Latex Test
3-Part Differential Hematology Analyzer
Swelab Alfa Plus Sampler
New
Hand-Held Immunofluorescence Analyzer
WS-Si1500
New
Host Response Immunoassay Test
MeMed BV
Read the full article by registering today, it's FREE! It's Free!
Register now for FREE to LabMedica.com and get access to news and events that shape the world of Clinical Laboratory Medicine.
  • Free digital version edition of LabMedica International sent by email on regular basis
  • Free print version of LabMedica International magazine (available only outside USA and Canada).
  • Free and unlimited access to back issues of LabMedica International in digital format
  • Free LabMedica International Newsletter sent every week containing the latest news
  • Free breaking news sent via email
  • Free access to Events Calendar
  • Free access to LinkXpress new product services
  • REGISTRATION IS FREE AND EASY!
Click here to Register








Channels

Hematology

view channel
Image: CitoCBC is the world first cartridge-based CBC to be granted CLIA Waived status by FDA (Photo courtesy of CytoChip)

Disposable Cartridge-Based Test Delivers Rapid and Accurate CBC Results

Complete Blood Count (CBC) is one of the most commonly ordered lab tests, crucial for diagnosing diseases, monitoring therapies, and conducting routine health screenings. However, more than 90% of physician... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: A simple blood test could replace surgical biopsies for early detecion of heart transplant rejection (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Blood Test Detects Organ Rejection in Heart Transplant Patients

Following a heart transplant, patients are required to undergo surgical biopsies so that physicians can assess the possibility of organ rejection. Rejection happens when the recipient’s immune system identifies... Read more

Pathology

view channel
These images illustrate how precision oncology Organ Chips recapitulate individual patients’ responses to chemotherapy (Photo courtesy of Wyss Institute at Harvard University)

Cancer Chip Accurately Predicts Patient-Specific Chemotherapy Response

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), one of the two primary types of esophageal cancer, ranks as the sixth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and currently lacks effective targeted therapies.... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.