Prostate Cancer Diagnosed from Urinary Ribonucleic Acid

A test for noncoding ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules in urine may offer a way to detect prostate cancer that is more accurate and reliable than current methods using biomarkers such as prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and prostate cancer gene 3 (PCA3).

A new study has identified a series of noncoding RNA molecules that could potentially be combined into a single urine test to detect prostate cancer. The test could offer greater sensitivity and specificity than the current biomarker tests and thus make population screening much more viable. The test with high sensitivity is good at ruling out disease when the result is negative, and a test with high specificity is good at ruling in disease when the result is positive.


Scientists at the University of Leipzig (Germany) and their colleagues took 64 prostate cancer tissue samples obtained from biopsies and read 200 million sequences in genetic molecules from each sample. They found over 2,000 sequences that were significantly different in tumor samples than in healthy controls. Some of these sequences were for non-coding RNAs that showed better specificity and sensitivity than established prostate markers.

The biomarkers were also found to be present in urine samples from cancer patients, and initial tests suggest they offer a precise way to detect the disease and a combination of biomarkers will give better specificity. One of the noncoding RNAs, called tumor-associated proliferation-inducing RNA (TAPIR), also showed significant promise in stopping cancer cell growth. However, the team says it is too soon to say whether this result will prove to be clinically useful. The team is now developing a highly specific and sensitive urine test for the early diagnosis of prostate cancer. The test will use a combination of biomarkers rather than just a single one.

Manfred Wirth, MD, a professor of Urology, and one of the leaders of the study, said, “Given that our initial results show a high specificity for prostate cancer in urine tests, the prospects are good that we will be able to translate this into a better test for prostate cancer. We have several good candidate biomarkers; however, we are aiming to design a test which utilizes a combination of biomarkers. This will give significantly better specificity than existing tests.” The study was presented at the European Association of Urology Congress (EAU16), held March 11–15, 2016, in Munich (Germany).

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University of Leipzig