A simple urine test may soon be able to detect lung cancer

University of Cambridge researchers have developed a urine test to detect the first signs of lung cancer. The researchers believe the technology, an injectable sensor so far only tested on mice, could help identify lung cancer at its earliest stages.^[][]

“Hopefully in a year, we can go a little bit further and bring it to the patients as soon as possible,” said study co-lead Ljiljana Fruk, PhD, in an interview with GB News.^[] “Detecting disease early is nothing if you don’t have therapeutic strategies. Drugs in clinical trials are being studied for these early signs of early cancer. Within a few years, we will definitely have therapies which will be able to deal with first signs of the cancer as well.”

'This keeps me really hopefuly about the developments in the next ten years.'

Professor LjilJana Fruk champions a new urine test which could discover early signs of lung cancer.

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Lung cancer stats

According to the National Cancer Institute, around 5.7% of men and women are diagnosed with lung and bronchus cancer during their lifetime.^[] The 5-year survival rate for these cancers stands at 26.7%. By the end of 2024, around 234,580 people in the US will have been diagnosed with lung and bronchus cancer, representing 11.7% of all new cancers; about 125,070 people will have died of the diseases, representing 20.4% of all cancer deaths.

The American Cancer Society notes that screening, such as with chest x-rays or computed tomography scans, may detect lung cancer, but it is usually only found in later stages, when it is causing symptoms.^[]

We know early detection matters

Avi Cohen, MD, an interventional pulmonologist at Henry Ford Health, who was not involved in developing the urine test, has explained that “when diagnosing lung cancer at an earlier stage, we’re able to provide certain procedures like removing the tumor altogether.” Such procedures provide cures, rather than “trying to put patients in remissions.”^[]

When late-stage lung cancer is diagnosed, the focus shifts to “put that cancer in its box and not allow it to come back,” he says. “At an early stage, it’s removing it completely” from the body. Still, Dr. Fruk noted that “early detection of cancer requires cost-effective tools and strategies that enable detection to happen quickly and accurately.”^[]

The revolutionary test

To develop the test, the researchers looked at proteins excreted by senescent cells, dubbed zombie cells, because while alive, the cells remain unable to grow and divide. When these cells accumulate, they can reprogram their immediate environment, helping to promote cancer cell development.^[]

“We know that before cancer emerges there are changes in the affected tissues,” explained Dr. Fruk, in speaking to the press.^[] “One of the changes is the accumulation of damaged cells that are not damaged enough to be removed, but enough to release signals that reprogram the tissue and make it perfect for cancer development.” She continued, “We identified a specific protein released by these cells in lung tissue and designed a probe that is cut into two pieces in its presence.”

When the probe is split by the target protein, the smaller piece of the probe travels to the kidneys and is released through the bladder in urine. “Once in urine, this part of the probe is too small to be detected, but it can be made visible by adding a bit of silver solution to it,” Dr. Fruk said. ”By monitoring the color of urine after the injection of the probe we can say if cells are present in lungs that would indicate the early signs of pathological changes that might lead to cancer.”

Currently, the urine test is in the final stages of pre-clinical validation. The researchers are now exploring ways of using the technology for other cancer types, including breast, pancreatic, and skin melanoma. 

“We have almost completed a functional urine test to detect zombie cells in lung cancer, which will spot cancer earlier and avoid the need for invasive procedures, but this test does have potential for other cancers,” Dr. Fruk concluded.