Simple urine test detects bladder cancer

According to Italian researchers a simple and accurate urine test can detect bladder cancer early and they say the test should be used on smokers and others prone to the disease.

Apparently the test for the enzyme telomerase in urine was found to be accurate some 90 percent of the time in men, after the cancer diagnoses were confirmed with standard invasive examinations of the bladder and urinary tract.

The researchers from Morgagni-Pierantoni Hospital in Forli, Italy, say the test also detected low-grade tumors, when the disease was in its infancy.

As many as 60,000 Americans annually are diagnosed with bladder cancer which kills 20 percent of patients.

When it is is caught early enough treatment is usually more effective.

Although the accuracy of the test was clearly shown in the small study of 218 male patients, the researchers acknowledge that further study is needed for what promises to be a reliable diagnostic tool.

Study author Maria Aurora says the test is not recommended for use in routine screening programs because of the low incidence of bladder cancer, and should be aimed at high-risk sub-groups, in particular smokers who have a three-fold increased risk of developing bladder cancer compared to nonsmokers.

The study is published in the JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.