New urine test can accurately detect womb cancer

BRITISH scientists announced on Friday that they had developed a test to detect womb cancer using urine samples, explaining that the method could replace a painful and invasive procedure currently in use.

At present, clinicians diagnose the cancer by taking a biopsy, a process which requires a narrow telescope called a hysteroscope, to examine inside of the uterus and remove cells.

Nearly a third of women who undergo the procedure have the process repeated because of technical difficulties or intolerable pain, the research showed.

Thousands of women in Britain who do not have womb cancer also undergo the procedure, with huge financial implications for the country’s state-run National Health Service (NHS).

The study from Manchester University has developed a new detection tool which examines urine or vaginal samples that can be collected by women on their own at home.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, showed analysis of the samples correctly diagnosed 91.7 per cent of women with womb cancer.

The proportion of women without womb cancer who tested negative with the new tool was 88.9 per cent, the study showed.

— AFP