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A new study conducted by researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in collaboration with international partners shows that bladder cancer mutations in a specific gene can be detected in the urine of individuals up to 10 years before clinical diagnosis of the disease. The new results, described in an article in EBioMedicine, a journal published by The Lancet, could significantly improve the early detection of bladder cancer through a simple urine DNA test.
The test is based on the detection of mutations in the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene; these are the most common mutations in bladder cancer. The ability to detect these TERT mutations in pre-diagnostic urine samples has enormous potential as a non-invasive tool for the early detection of bladder cancer and potentially for the cost-effective screening of individuals at high risk of developing the disease.
Hosen MI, Sheikh M, Zvereva M, Scelo G, Forey N, Durand G, et al.
Urinary TERT promoter mutations are detectable up to 10 years prior to clinical diagnosis of bladder cancer: evidence from the Golestan Cohort Study
EBioMedicine, Published online 17 February 2020;
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2020.102643
