A November 2019 study by the University of East Anglia and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital holds out the prospect of a new home testing kit for prostate cancer. They said,
“Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK. It usually develops slowly and the majority of cancers will not require treatment in a man's lifetime. However, doctors struggle to predict which tumours will become aggressive, making it hard to decide on treatment for many men.”
"The most commonly used tests for prostate cancer include blood tests, a physical examination known as a digital rectal examination…, an MRI scan or a biopsy.”
"We developed the [Prostate Urine Risk], which looks at gene expression in urine samples and provides vital information about whether a cancer is aggressive or 'low risk'.”
"Because the prostate is constantly secreting, the collection of urine from men's first urination of the day means that the biomarker levels from the prostate are much higher and more consistent, so this is a great improvement.”
"Being able to simply provide a urine sample at home and post a sample off for analysis could really revolutionise diagnosis.”
"It means that men would not have to undergo a digital rectal examination, so it would be much less stressful and should result in a lot more patients being tested."