Prostate cancer: a major public health issue
Prostate cancer is “one of the most frequent cancers in men, representing a major cause of male mortality in the world. Currently, screening is mainly based on the dosage of PSA (specific prostatic antigen) in the blood. However, this test has limits: it can give false positive or negative results, leading to unnecessary biopsies or late diagnostics.
An innovative urinary test, more precise than the PSA
Researchers from Karolinska Institutet, in collaboration with the Imperial College London and the Xiyuan hospital in Beijing, have developed a urinary test capable of detecting prostate cancer early. By studying the activity of the mRNA of all human genes in thousands of prostate tumors cells, and determining the location and the cancer stage for each cell, the researchers have managed to create digital models of prostate cancer. These models were examined using artificial intelligence to identify proteins that can serve as biomarkers. Subsequently, these biomarkers were evaluated in the blood, prostatic tissue and urine of around 2,000 patients. According to their calculations, these biomarkers surpass the PSA in terms of diagnostic precision.
Professor Mikael Benson, principal researcher of the study, explains:
“”There are many advantages to measure biomarkers in the urine. It is not invasive and painless, and it can potentially be done at home. The sample can then be analyzed using routine methods in clinical laboratories“.
This method could therefore facilitate screening, by making it more accessible and less restrictive for patients.
Towards a large -scale clinical validation
To confirm the effectiveness of this test, large -scale clinical trials are planned. One of them, led by Professor Rakesh Heer of the Imperial College London, plans to include up to 300,000 men in the United Kingdom over eight years. This project, named Transform, aims to assess the test in real conditions and to determine if it can replace or supplement the PSA test in prostate cancer screening.
Professor Benson highlights the importance of this advance:
“”New more precise biomarkers than PSA can lead to earlier diagnosis and better forecasts for men with prostate cancer. They can also reduce the number of unnecessary prostatic biopsies made on healthy men“.
If the results of the clinical trials confirm these promises, this urinary test could become a key tool in the fight against prostate cancer, by allowing earlier, more precise and less invasive screening.