A Japanese laboratory will launch what it presents as the first trials in the world aimed at detecting cancer through the analysis of urine samples, a diagnosis which could ease up the cancer detection. The giant Hitachi has been developing this technology for two years now trying to produce a reliable system to diagnose breast and colon cancer from urine samples.
“The test phase now begins on the basis of 250 samples to determine if they can be analyzed at room temperature,” said the Hitachi spokesman, Chiharu Odaira, for AFP.
“If this method is put into practice, it will be much simpler for people to undergo cancer screening since they will not need to go to a laboratory for blood tests,” he continued.
The Japanese scientists also aim to diagnose cancer in children using urine samples.
The researchers plan on implementing this cancer detection method in hospitals, by 2020
This technology would be less intrusive than cancer-detection blood tests, which proved promising in diagnosing of eight types of tumors before spreading to other parts of the body (metastasizing), and which has been researched in the United States earlier this year.
Common methods of breast cancer diagnosis are mammograms, which are followed by biopsy, in the cases where risks are found. For the colon cancer, on the other hand, a stool analysis is conducted at first, which is followed by a colonoscopy intervention in patients who present risks.
Hitachi’s technology focuses on the study of biomarkers, characteristic indicators of a disease, in the waste found in urine, according to the company’s representatives.
The new cancer diagnosis is targeting to improve the early diagnosis of cancer, in order to save lives and reduce costs of treatments, explained Odaira.
The clinical trials will start this month and will end in September this year, being conducted in collaboration with the University of Nagoya, in central Japan. “Our goal is to use this technology by 2020, although that will depend on several parameters, including obtaining the authorizations,” Odaira added.
In short, the Japanese researchers from Hitachi developed a non-intrusive cancer detection technology which can diagnose the disease from urine samples.
