Cancer could be detected with a urine test, scientists hope

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A urine test that changes color as it detects cancer could help diagnose the deadly disease in the future, say scientists

  • The early stages of the test were used on mice, half of which had colon cancer
  • The cancer has been detected successfully because the urine turns bright blue
  • Particles injected into the body are modified by tumor enzymes

By Vanessa Chalmers Health Journalist for Mailonline

published: 11:03 southern standard time, September 3, 2019 | Update: 11:04 CEST, September 3, 2019

A urine test that changes color as it detects cancer could help diagnose the killer disease in the future, scientists said.

Tests on mice showed that it worked, with their urine turning bright blue if they had colon cancer.

Scientists hope the test will pave the way for a new diagnostic tool that would be cheaper and easier than current methods.

Early detection of cancer can increase survival rates because treatment can be started as soon as possible.

Scientists have developed a urine test that changes color if it detects cancer. It was tested on mice and turned bright blue with precision in mice with colon cancer (photo)

Scientists have developed a urine test that changes color if it detects cancer. It was tested on mice and turned bright blue with precision in mice with colon cancer (photo)

Researchers from Imperial College London and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published their findings in Nature Nanotechnology.

"This test can be administered without expensive and difficult to use laboratory instruments," said Professor Molly Stevens, author of the study, at the Imperial.

"Simple reading could potentially be captured by a smartphone image and transmitted to remote caregivers to connect patients to treatment.

HOW DOES THE TEST WORK?

The test involves injecting the mice with tiny devices called nanosensors that move through the body.

In case of cancer, enzymes released by tumors called proters reduce nanosensors to smaller pieces.

They cross the kidneys and blush the urine. If there is no cancer present, there will be no color change.

This study used ultra-small gold nanoclusters (AuNC) that enter the body and are attached to a protein.

AuNCs are separated from the protein by an MMP group enzyme, of which many types of cancer, including colon tumors, produce high levels of.

Once broken, the AuNC fragments are so small that they are able to travel in the blood and be filtered through the urine.

In healthy mice lacking high levels of MMPs, the clusters remain intact, still bound to the protein and too large to pass into the urine.

The AuNC become blue when they are treated with a chemical substrate and hydrogen peroxide.

Thus, when they pass in the urine, they will be visible to the naked eye after a chemical treatment.

"By taking advantage of this chemical reaction that causes a color change, this test can be performed without the use of expensive and hard-to-use laboratory instruments."

The test accurately detected urine samples from mice with colon tumors as part of a study involving 28 mice – 14 mice were healthy and 14 had colon tumors .

The bright blue color was visible less than half an hour after the chemical treatment of the urine.

The authors wrote: "We have developed a modular approach for the rapid detection of a pathological condition based on simple and sensitive colorimetric urinary dosing, requiring minimal equipment and being readable at the eye in less than 10 days. An hour.

"We believe that this modular approach will enable the rapid detection of a wide range of diseases."

The mice showed no side effects and the scientists said that there was no evidence that the nanosensors lingered anymore in the body.

The test is still in its infancy and researchers are working to make it even easier to use.

They plan to be able to distinguish between different cancers, not just the colon, and diseases.

Current diagnostic tools for cancer are sometimes based on biological signals called biomarkers, produced during the growth and propagation of tumors.

Other diagnostic tests for cancer include MRI scans, blood tests and lumbar puncture, depending on the cancer suspected by the doctor.

But tests can be slow, with results taking days to come and expensive.

BREAST CANCER COULD BE DIAGNOSED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles have demonstrated that a computer could be more effective than a doctor in diagnosing certain types of cancerous and precancerous breast lesions.

The team formed an artificial intelligence system using 240 biopsy images and tested it against 87 pathologists.

According to the results published in the journal JAMA Network Open of the month of August, the machine has more or less well served doctors to detect and classify all breast biopsies.

However, it was better to make a crucial distinction: to differentiate between DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), a type of cancer, and atypical hyperplasia, a high-risk lesion that has very similar characteristics but that it is neither cancerous nor cancerous. require the same level of treatment.

Dr. Marilin Rosa, a pathologist at the Moffitt Cancer Center who did not participate in the study, told DailyMail.com that current methods to differentiate between the two are flawed.

"The main problem for us is the distinction between atypical hyperplasia and low grade DCIS. Atypical hyperplasia has been defined as an entity that has some of the characteristics of DCIS, but not all, "said Dr. Rosa.

"It looks like DCIS of inferior quality, but it is not the case.

Dr. Joann Elmore, lead author of the study, said, "The distinction between breast breast atypia and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is clinically important, but very difficult for patients. pathologists.

"Sometimes doctors do not even agree with their previous diagnosis when we show them the same case a year later."

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