At-home urine test can detect nine in 10 cases of bladder cancer

In: Health

An at-home urine test can detect more than nine in 10 bladder cancer cases, a study has revealed.

The non-invasive test which is being trialled by the NHS was tested on 964 patients across seven NHS urology departments.

Around 10,900 new bladder cancer cases are diagnosed every year in the UK, according to Cancer Research.

Most patients require an invasive procedure called a cystoscopy, which involves inserting a small camera up the urethra and into the bladder to be diagnosed.

There are more than 300,000 cystoscopies a year, but this new non-invasive test could mean thousands of people are spared the test.

Around 10,900 new bladder cancer cases are diagnosed every year in the UK and are usually diagnosed using a procedure called a cystoscopy
Around 10,900 new bladder cancer cases are diagnosed every year in the UK and are usually diagnosed using a procedure called a cystoscopy (Getty/iStock)

Although it is not a replacement for cystoscopies, it could help doctors identify patients at greater risk who should be prioritised for urgent tests.

“What matters most is identifying those most likely to have cancer sooner, while giving clinicians confidence when deciding which patients can safely wait for a cystoscopy,” Lee Silcock, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Nonacus and co-author of the study, said.

The study, published in the journal European Urology Oncology, was led by the University of Birmingham and a diagnostics company Nonacus.

The commercially available urine test called GALEAS Bladder, was found to detect 71 of 77 cancers (92.2 per cent) out of nearly 1,000 patients by checking for any genomic material shed into the urine by bladder cancer.

Bladder cancer symptoms

NHS

The main symptom of bladder cancer is blood in your pee.

Other symptoms include:

  • pain, burning, stinging or itching when you pee
  • getting lots of urinary tract infections
  • needing to pee more often
  • needing to pee very suddenly
  • losing your appetite and losing weight without trying to
  • pain in your back and lower tummy
  • aching, pain or tenderness in your bones
  • feeling very tired for no reason and feeling generally unwell

It looks for more than 450 DNA mutations associated with bladder cancer across 23 genes.

Professor Richard Bryan, Director of the University of Birmingham’s Bladder Cancer Research Centre and co-author of the study, said: “The results are very significant for clinical practice.

“Only 8 per cent of patients in the study were ultimately diagnosed with bladder cancer, which highlights the challenge facing NHS haematuria services where large numbers of patients currently enter the same urgent diagnostic pathway despite most not having cancer.

“GALEAS is a promising and less invasive test that can be easier to administer and make testing and screening for bladder cancer far easier.”

The study suggested using these at-home tests could reduce the burden on urology departments.

Using GALEAS Bladder to triage patients was estimated to result in 730 fewer urgent cystoscopies for every 1,000 patients, compared with urgent cystoscopy for everyone.

GALEAS Bladder is already being used within NHS pathways in England and Wales.