A simple test detects lung cancer early

By monitoring the color of your urine

By conducting a simple urine test that can detect "zombie cancer cells", lung cancer can now be diagnosed in its early stages, before symptoms appear on a person, and scientists expect this test to contribute to reducing the number of deaths from this disease resulting from late diagnosis.

Scientists from the "Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology" at the University of Cambridge and the "Early Cancer Institute" have come up with a way to examine proteins secreted by old body cells.

A test to detect cancer

They considered it a "world-first innovation" and hope that early detection will help enable patients to receive treatment earlier, giving them a better chance of beating the disease.

While waiting to start testing it on volunteers, the inventors of this test confirmed that it has achieved pioneering results on mice, according to the British newspaper "The Independent".

She said that around 43,000 cases of lung cancer are diagnosed in the UK each year, but only 10% of people survive 10 years after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Detecting zombie cancer cells

This test looks for old cells that are secreted by infected tissues before cancer appears. They are called "zombie cells" as they remain alive in the body, but are unable to grow and divide, and instead cause tissue damage, which contributes to creating the appropriate environment for the appearance of cancer cells.

The experiment was carried out by developing an injectable substance that interacts with the proteins of "zombie cells", and as a result of this interaction, a "compound" is produced that can be easily detected in urine, indicating the presence of cancer cells in their early stages, according to researcher Liliana Frock.

She explained that before cancer appears, changes occur in the infected tissue, and one of these changes is the accumulation of damaged cells enough to release signals that make the tissue ideally infected to develop into cancer cells.

From experiment to result

She explained the stages of scientific research leading to the invention of the device capable of identifying the disease, as through laboratory experiments on mice, scientists identified a protein secreted by these cells in the lung tissue.

Based on this protein, it became necessary to design a probe consisting of two parts, the smaller part is injected into the kidneys to conduct the urine examination process.

After injecting the probe, the color of the urine can be monitored through the larger part that doctors have, as they monitor the changes that occur to it to verify the safety of the tissue cells in the lungs.