Scottish scientists from Beatson Institute for Cancer Research have succeeded in devising and developing the first urine test that can diagnose liver cancer.
Commenting on this first-of-its-kind achievement, Dr. Severio Tardito said “We are very excited about the discovery of a metabolite present in urine that has not been previously described in mammals, a discovery that would provide a simple and easy way to diagnose liver cancer through analysis of a urine sample.” In addition to monitoring the stages of growth and development of cancer, pointing out that the researchers discovered this metabolic element by chance during their study of another element related to cancerous tumors in experimental mice, reports a local Arabic daily.
The mechanism of the new examination is to monitor a protein metabolite known as betacatenin, a biological element that can be taken as an indicator of liver cancer without the need for any invasive diagnostic intervention.
Dr. Tardito added that the team of researchers is currently planning to conduct further studies with the aim of exploring the accuracy of the examination in diagnosing different types of cancer, as well as determining the time range that can be relied upon to detect infection as early as possible.