Predict the Recurrence of Bladder Cancer Through Simple Urine Test

Recurrence of bladder cancer can be predicted through a by-product of nicotine, found in the urine of smokers as per a pilot study presented at the 2021 European Association of Urology Congress. Smoking is known to be a major risk factor for bladder cancer. A chemical called cotinine is made by the body from nicotine. This acts as a marker for exposure to tobacco smoke and can be easily measured as a by-product of nicotine through a simple and cheaper urine test.

Patients with non-invasive, low-risk bladder cancer have no further treatment rather than surgery and regular cystoscopies (camera is passed through the urethra into the bladder to check for further tumors). The present study utilized this notion to check the cotinine levels of 135 patients who were attending the hospital for follow-up cystoscopies over 18 months between January 2018 and June 2019.

Urine Test for Bladder Cancer

It was found that among eighty patients with high levels of cotinine, over 550 ng/ml, three-quarters of these were four times more likely to have their cancer return, compared to those with lower levels of the chemical (18%).

Although the study has a smaller sample size, it highlights the fact that cotinine could be a potential biomarker in minimizing the number of invasive investigations that cancer patients undergo following diagnosis and treatment.

The team is set to explore this data in a larger trial and examine other parameters of smoking levels, type of cigarettes, exposure to arsenic or industrial benzole, and other risk factors for bladder cancer.

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Source-Medindia