Prostate Cancer: Could It Be Detected Through Smell?

Researchers in England have successfully developed a device that can detect prostate cancer by "smelling" the health issue in men via a gas chromatography, or GC, sensor system, which analyzes molecules in the air.

Researchers first conducted a pilot test on men treated at urology clinics. After using the device, called Odoreader, researchers were able to identify compounds in urine samples that helped them diagnosed the health issues.

"There is currently no accurate test for prostate cancer, the vagaries of the PSA test indicators can sometimes result in unnecessary biopsies, resulting in psychological toll, risk of infection from the procedure and even sometimes missing cancer cases," Norman Radcliffe, a professor at the University of West England, said in a news release. "Our aim is to create a test that avoids this procedure at initial diagnosis by detecting cancer in a non-invasive way by smelling the disease in men's urine."

The study involved over 150 men and two urology clinics. All participants were dealing with symptoms that could possibly be cancer, with 58 percent of men from the sample diagnosed with prostate cancer, 24 percent had bladder cancer and 73 had haematuria or poor urinary stream but no cancer.

Findings showed that the device identified prostate cancer samples with 95 percent sensitivity and 96 percent specificity, and bladder cancer at 96 percent sensitivity and 100 percent specificity, according to UPI.

Right now, researchers looking for funding for a full clinical trial in order to continue showing the efficacy of the device.

Related Articles

Acupuncture May Help Treat Children With Chronic Pain

Link Discovered Between Obesity, Blood Clots In Children

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).