Urine Test for Early Detection of Cancer

Edinburgh, Some cancers can be detected by conducting various tests. Now the study found a urine test that can be used simply to detect certain cancers at an early stage.

Researchers reveal a protein found in the urine of patients with stomach cancer, colon cancer and pancreatic can help diagnose the disease even in people who have not found symptoms.

"If the cancer can be diagnosed early then it is likely to further increase survival," said chairman Dr Holger Husi studies from the University of Edinburgh, as quoted from Dailymail, Friday (06/10/2011).

Dr Husi said the purpose of this research is to help diagnose cancer earlier, allowing physicians to treat the disease before it spreads to other organs.

"Most patients are diagnosed when cancer can no longer be treated with surgery and get into the advanced stage, whereas in the early stages can be treated with surgery or chemotherapy allows patients to recover," he said.

Studies reported in the journal Proteomics-Clinical Applications found 6 types of proteins found in the sample 98 percent of cancer patients and not found in non-cancer patients.

But investigators eventually narrow down these molecules into two types of protein called S100A6 and S1009 are most likely to occur in patients with upper gastrointestinal cancer.

The results of this study become important because only about 10 percent of patients with upper digestive tract cancers that can survive for up to 5 years after diagnosis. This is because these cancers tend to be aggressive and often undetected until it reaches an advanced stage.