Featured peer-reviewed article: Methodology for the at-home collection of urine samples for prostate cancer detection

Written by Martyn Webb , Kate Manley, Mireia Olivan, Ingrid Guldvik, Malgorzata Palczynska, Rachel Hurst, Shea P Connell, Ian G Mills, Daniel S Brewer, Robert Mills, Colin S Cooper & Jeremy Clark
Cancer research

Urine from patients with prostate cancer (PCa) contains gene transcripts that have been used for PCa diagnosis and prognosis. Historically, patient urine samples have been collected after a digital rectal examination of the prostate, which was thought necessary to boost the levels of prostatic secretions in the urine.

We herein describe methodology that allows urine to be collected by patients at home and then posted to a laboratory for analysis. RNA yields and quality were comparable to those for post digital rectal examination urine, and there was improved sensitivity for the detection of TMPRSS2:ERG transcripts by RT-PCR. The At-Home collection protocol has opened up the potential to perform large-scale PCa studies without the inconvenience, cost, discomfort and expense of patients having to visit the clinic.

prostate cancer test

Overview of the vacuum manifold setup for extraction of RNA from urine. (B) Close-up of a 25-ml pipette inserted into the Norgen RNA column.

 

Source

  1. Webb M, Manley K, Olivan M et al. Methodology for the at-home collection of urine samples for prostate cancer detection. BioTechniques. doi: 10.2144/btn-2019-0092 (2019);