New Urine Test May Detect Prostate Cancer with 91 Percent Accuracy: Study

In a new study, researchers have developed a novel urine-based test to detect prostate cancer. The findings were published in eBioMedicine. Prostate cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in men, is typically diagnosed through blood-based prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing. However, PSA tests lack specificity and often lead to unnecessary biopsies or overtreatment. To overcome these limitations, the research team analyzed urine samples from 341 individuals—including healthy men and patients with prostate cancer before and after prostate-removal surgery. From an initial pool of 815 prostate-specific genes, they identified three biomarkers—TTC3, H4C5, and EPCAM that showed strong diagnostic potential. These biomarkers were detectable in patients prior to surgery but were nearly absent post-surgery, confirming that they originated in prostate tissue, the study noted. For the study, investigators extracted RNA from prostate cells shed in 50-ml urine samples. They then analyzed gene expression using RNA sequencing and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Additionally, immunohistochemistry was used to study the biomarkers in both cancerous and adjacent healthy prostate tissues. The test correctly identified prostate cancer 91% of the time and ruling it out 84% of the time in the validation group. Notably, it maintained diagnostic accuracy in PSA-negative patients and effectively distinguished prostate cancer from benign conditions like benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostatitis. “This new biomarker panel offers a promising, sensitive and specific, noninvasive diagnostic test for prostate cancer,” said senior author Ranjan Perera, Ph.D., from Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. “It has the potential to accurately detect prostate cancer, reduce unnecessary biopsies, improve diagnostic accuracy in PSA-negative patients, and serve as the foundation for both laboratory-developed and in vitro diagnostic assays.” In the performance evaluation phase, the team validated the test on an additional 1,055 urine samples, reinforcing its diagnostic potential.