Urine Test To Detect Colon Cancer, Soon

By Devaki

Friday, April 23, 2010, 12:24

A urine test which can diagnose colon cancer is coming in the near future. Such a test would compliment or sometimes reduce the need for the current mainstay screening tests to diagnose the disease, including colonoscopy.

Experts say that the analysis of the chemical differences in the urine of humans with or without colon cancer paved the way to the alternative method for colonoscopy.

Colonoscopy involves using a flexible lighted tube to see inside the colon. It is the most effective tool for the early diagnosing of colon cancer, at present. But the procedure is unpleasant, costly and time-consuming for the patient.

Scientists who have done a research on the topic say that we can identify 16 substances which appear in unusual amounts in colon cancer. Some among the changes include increased levels of trytophan, which is one of the 22 amino acids found in proteins.

So the research team says that a potential urine test is being developed by them, as a tool for diagnosing colon cancer.

The study has appeared in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research