It might seem like we write too much about new discoveries out of MIT, but the fact of the matter is that the university is on the frontline of many of the world’s biggest issues, working rapidly to unveil new solutions. Today, we present to you yet another of MIT’s solutions, which comes in the form of a urine test that can help detect lung cancer early.
Early detection is key when it comes to boosting survival rates for cancer patients, and there are a lot of ways scientists are working to swing the odds in their favor. Urine tests that pick up biomarkers of the disease are one exciting possibility, and researchers at MIT have demonstrated a particularly promising example that could give efforts to diagnose early-stage lung cancer a huge boost.
The technology was developed by scientists at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, who have previously developed sensors that can detect early signs of ovarian and colon cancer. The team is now turning its attention to lung cancer, which is usually diagnosed using CT scans that reveal tumors in the lungs but also can return a lot of false positives, mistaking benign growths for malignant ones. Because of this, too many patients end up undergoing unnecessary biopsies.
That’s where the urine test comes in. It could be used following a positive CT screening result, offering a non-invasive alternative to biopsy as a way of screening for cancer. To advance to the point where we can readily detect and intercept cancers before they become problematic, these are the kinds of technologies we need.
