In the U.S., prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men, and one in six men will eventually develop prostate cancer during his lifetime. Currently, the prostate specific antigen test and digital rectal examination are the most predominant used tools for prostate cancer detection, but both methods have low specificity and poorly predict the presence of aggressive prostate cancer. To that end, researchers and clinicians have worked to discover novel biomarkers that would give an early indication of the disease with high accuracy. iSense Medical Corp. has developed a sensor platform that enables the identification of cancer from metabolomic biomarkers in urine headspace. The cancer cell metabolism produces unique volatile organic compounds that partitions to blood and then excretes into urine, which can be measured in the urine headspace using our colorimetric sensor array technology. In this work, we propose the detection of prostate cancer from urine headspace analysis. If successful, this assay will offer a non-invasive, rapid (<1 hour), low-cost (order $10), point-of-care diagnostic tool for early detection and assessment of aggressiveness of prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer exhibits unique metabolic profiles, but the commonly used serum PSA has poor specificity and is unable to assess aggressiveness of disease, resulting in over-diagnosis and over-treatment of relatively indolent tumors. Supported by promising initial data and in partnership with a distinguished clinical facility, the proposed research effort will develop a sensor platform to enable the non-invasive, low cost, and accurate identification of prostate cancer from metabolomic biomarkers in urine.
