Bladder cancer can now be detected long before symptoms develop - after scientists created a device that can smell the disease.
Responding to chemicals in a patient’s urine, the sensor is able to give an accurate diagnosis within 30 minutes.
Around 10,000 people are diagnosed with the disease each year but there are no reliable screening methods, unlike in breast or cervical cancers.
Bladder cancer can now be detected long before symptoms develop - after scientists created a device that can smell the disease
Due to later diagnosis, it is one of the most common causes of death in cancer patients.
The device, known as the Odoreader, was inspired by a dog’s ability to detect smells that escape the human nose, including the scent of lung cancer.
In a trial on 98 patients - 24 of whom had cancer - the sensor was 100 per cent accurate in identifying individuals with the disease. Larger clinical trials are now planned before the technique becomes publicly available.
The researchers hope the technique can also be used to diagnose the early stages of prostate cancer.
Researcher Professor Chris Probert, from the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Translational Medicine, said: ‘Each year approximately 10,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with bladder cancer.
‘It is a disease that, if caught early, can be treated effectively, but unfortunately we do not have any early screening methods other than diagnosis through urine tests at the stage when it starts to become a problem.’
Researchers from the UWE Bristol, the University of Liverpool, and Bristol Urological Institute have spent four years developing the Odoreader.
The device contains a sensor that responds to chemicals in a patient’s urine. Scientists are then able to read the profile to diagnose the presence of cancer cells in the bladder.
Responding to chemicals in a patient's urine, the sensor is able to give an accurate diagnosis within 30 minutes
Researcher Professor Norman Ratcliffe from the Institute of Biosensor Technology at UWE Bristol said: ‘It is thought that dogs can smell cancer, but this is obviously not a practical way for hospitals to diagnose the disease.
‘Taking this principle, however, we have developed a device that can give us a profile of the odour in urine. It reads the gases that chemicals in the urine can give off when the sample is heated.
‘Odoreader works by inserting a bottle containing the urine sample into the device. About 30 minutes later the Odoreader is capable of showing the diagnosis on the computer screen if the sample derives from a patient with bladder cancer. It is simple to use and could be operated in a doctor’s surgery.’
The study is published in the journal Public Library of Science ONE.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2358366/The-test-smell-bladder-cancer-long-symptoms-develop-100-accurate.html#ixzz2YZHaryG7
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