UEA develops prostate cancer urine test which can tell how aggressive disease is

It's hoped it will also reduce the need for invasive procedures.

Author: Abi SimpsonPublished 28th Apr 2021

Researchers at the UEA have developed a new urine test which can not only detect if someone has prostate cancer, but also tell how aggressive it is.

It's hoped that the use of the new test will reduce the number of unnecessary invasive biopsies being carried out by 35%.

The new study shows how an experimental test called 'ExoGrail' has the potential to revolutionise how patients with suspected prostate cancer are risk-assessed prior to an invasive biopsy.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK and develops very slowly, which means most will not require treatment in their lifetime.

The most commonly used tests to detect it currently are blood tests, a physical examination known as a digital rectal examination (DRE), an MRI scan, or an invasive biopsy.

However the UEA says doctors struggle to predict which tumours will become aggressive, making it hard to decide on treatment for many men.

Lead researcher Dr Dan Brewer, from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "While prostate cancer is responsible for a large proportion of all male cancer deaths, it is more commonly a disease men die with rather than from.

"Therefore, there is a desperate need for improvements in diagnosing and predicting outcomes for prostate cancer patients to minimise over-diagnosis and overtreatment whilst appropriately treating men with aggressive disease, especially if this can be done without taking an invasive biopsy.

"Invasive biopsies come at considerable economic, psychological and societal cost to patients and healthcare systems alike."

Dr Brewer added: "Our new urine test not only shows whether a patient has prostate cancer, but it importantly shows how aggressive the disease is.

"This allows patients and doctors to select the correct treatment. And it has the potential to reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies by 35 per cent."

Paul Villanti, executive director of programmes at Movember, said: "We are proud to have supported the development of the ExoGrail urine test as part of our Global Action Plan Urine Biomarker project.

"Having non-invasive tests which can accurately show how aggressive a man's prostate cancer is not only reduces the number of men having to undergo painful biopsies, but also ensures that the right course of treatment for the patient is selected more quickly."

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