Finally, cancer clues in urine!
Seema Singh -
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 8:08 PM
For long, the traditional and modern systems of medicine have locked horns over the possible role of urine in cancer treatment. While the former continues its tradition, the latter is applying tools of modern science to test it, finally inching towards a non-invasive cancer diagnostic.
A team of US researchers has found a molecule (rather, a panel of small molecules called metabolites) that is produced by the body's metabolism, and can be used to diagnose the type of prostrate cancer. Known as sarcosine, the molecule could be associated with prostrate cancer invasiveness and aggressiveness. The team reports the work in Feb 12 issue of Nature.
Since sarcosine is detected in urine, the findings suggest it could lead to a simple, non-invasive urine test that would help doctors determine which prostate cancers are slow-growing and which require immediate, aggressive treatment.
"Current biomarkers for detection or progression of prostate cancer are not as precise as we would like. Therefore, a more accurate indicator of cancer is of great interest," said Sudhir Srivastava, chief of National Cancer Institute's Cancer Biomarkers Research Group.
For co-author Arul M Chinnaiyan, Michigan Centre for Translational Pathology, Ann Arbor, "components of the sarcosine pathway could serve as novel avenues for therapeutic intervention." Last year, he had devised an experimental urine test that could detect prostrate cancer better than the PSA blood test currently used worldwide, which, besides cancer, also identifies men with enlarged prostrate glands.
One of the challenges in this cancer is that patients get over treated because physicians don't know which tumors will be slow-growing. Sarcosine promises to be a biomarker for the aggressive tumors.
Besides the academic research groups, a biomarker company, Metabolon Inc., was involved in this. Chances are the bench- to-bedside translation research will begin soon.
In 2002 in India, the then S&T minister MM Joshi and CIMAP, Lucknow, scientists made a big splash when a US patent was obtained on a cow urine distillate that enhanced the activity of anti-cancer drugs. But as far as my knowledge goes, not much ‘translation' research has happened to further the finding! (Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow also had a good lead in turmeric/curcumin - for anti-stroke properties-- but that too is probably delayed in translation.)
Notwithstanding the promising results, researchers say, "Results are preliminary at this point and will need years of further testing and development before this technology would be available for patients."