A new method of detecting breast
cancer using the urine has been developed by researchers at the
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Medical Center, University of Freiburg.
The
method involves determining the concentration of molecules that
regulate cell metabolism and that are often deregulated in cancer cells.
The molecules, referred to as microRNAs,
enter into the urine over the blood, and by determining the composition
of microRNAs in the urine, the scientists succeeded in establishing
whether a test subject was healthy or diseased with 91% accuracy.
Should
the effectiveness of the method be confirmed in further studies, it
could serve as a means of monitoring the success of treatment and
potentially also of making an early diagnosis of breast cancer in the
future.
The study included 24 healthy test subjects and 24 women who had recently been diagnosed with a breast tumor.
The
patients were in tumor stages 1, 2, or 3. It will now be necessary to
conduct further studies to confirm the effectiveness of the method with
larger groups of patients.
The Freiburg scientists published their findings in the journal BMC Cancer and have applied for a patent for the method.
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