Medical researchers have developed an approach for detecting breast cancer by means of urine samples.

Prof. Dr. Elmar Stickeler, medical director of Senology at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and head of the Breast Center at the Medical Center — University of Freiburg, and his team have now developed a urine test capable of detecting breast cancer tumors by means of urine samples on the basis of changes in metabolism. The method involves determining the concentration of molecules that regulate cell metabolism and that are often dysregulated in cancer cells. These molecules, none as microRNAs, enter into the urine over the blood. The researchers measured the concentrations of nine microRNAs in the urine, short genetic sequences that regulate cell metabolism. Four of the nine molecules exhibited significant differences in concentration between healthy and diseased test subjects. By determining the composition of microRNAs in the urine, the scientists succeeded in establishing with 91 percent accuracy whether a test subject was healthy or diseased.