A simple urine test could detect pancreatic and prostate cancer with up to a 99% rate of accuracy, says a team of researchers from the Surface & Nano Materials Division of the Korea Institute of Materials Science.
Dr. Ho Sang Jung, lead author of the study, said cancer urine contains cancer metabolites and is different from normal urine.
The study, recently published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics, aimed to determine whether urine tests could detect those cancer metabolites, which are released by cancer cells to promote tumor growth.
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After the urine sample was placed on a test strip, the researchers used a special type of light scattering technique that generated a "fingerprint spectrum of chemicals," which detected the cancer metabolites.
Dr. Jung said the tests can detect cancer at various stages.
"The purpose of developing this kind of technology is to screen the cancer patient before they go to the hospital," he told Fox News Digital in an email.
"We are not sure that the test strip can differentiate cancer at very early stages, but at least it can suggest the possibility of cancer status — so the patient may then go to the hospital for a precise medical checkup."
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Dr. James Anaissie, a urologist with Memorial Hermann in Houston, Texas, who was not involved in the study, is optimistic about the future of this technology — but he’s not jumping completely on board just yet.
"If the test is as reliable as they say it is, it may have an important role in screening, as the current PSA [prostate-specific antigen] blood test we use is notoriously unreliable," he told Fox News Digital in an email.
"There is a big need for something like this."
Also, from a clinical perspective, urine testing is much easier than blood testing, the doctor said.
However, Anaissie remains a bit skeptical.
"Although they report excellent sensitivity and specificity for prostate cancer, the data to support this is only available upon request of the research team, and they have almost no tables demonstrating these findings, which I would consider standard for studies of this nature," he said.
H/T Fox News (read more at FoxNews.com)
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