Prostate cancer soon to be diagnosed with a simple urine test?

Although prostate cancer is very common, there is a real need for new, accurate diagnostic methods.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. In 2022, nearly 60,000 new cases were estimated in France. Today, diagnosis is based on a clinical examination, followed by a possible blood test to measure a prostate cancer marker, PSA. While this test is now the gold standard for screening for this cancer, its "use has limitations. Some individuals have abnormally high PSA levels without having prostate cancer, while others have low PSA levels despite the presence of prostate cancer," notes the Léon Bérard Cancer Center.

It therefore appears essential today to find new, reliable ways to diagnose prostate cancer. A team of researchers from the UK, China, and the renowned Karolinska Institute in Sweden announced in a press release that they have "identified new biomarkers" detectable in the urine of patients. This set of markers makes it possible "to indicate the presence and severity of prostate cancer with a high degree of accuracy," according to the researchers. They even believe that these biomarkers "surpass PSA."

In addition to their effectiveness, these biomarkers, which can be detected in urine, therefore have a major advantage over the blood test currently used. "It is a non-invasive and painless method, which can potentially be carried out at home. The sample can then be analyzed using routine methods in clinical laboratories," explains Swedish researcher Mikael Benson, one of the authors of the study published in the journal Cancer Research .

Better detection of prostate cancer would improve patient prognosis, but also "reduce the number of unnecessary prostate biopsies in healthy men," continues Dr. Benson. A biopsy is currently performed in cases of "abnormalities suggesting prostate cancer," according to the French National Health Insurance (Assurance Maladie). This invasive examination could thus be avoided if a more effective and reliable test were available. Before being available, the urine test developed by the research team will have to prove its effectiveness in large-scale clinical trials, which are already planned.