Tracking skin cancer with urine
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Urine test to track progression and treatment response of skin cancer

The most common type of cancer around the world is skin cancer, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom. The treatment’s success rate is generally directly proportional to early detection. And as there is no single, reliable therapy, the course of treatment requires a multi-directional approach. This makes tracking disease progression almost as essential as the treatment itself. It helps the physicians to keep an eye on the response of the person’s body to the therapy.

The latest research published in the journal Open Chemistry brings excellent news for individuals struggling with malignant melanoma – a hostile form of skin cancer.

Presently, physicians require to carry out invasive biopsies, where they eliminate a small piece of skin and analyze it under a microscope for examining the development of this disease.

The study claimed that doctors can now keep an eye on the progression and therapy response in patients with skin cancer by just analyzing a urine sample.

Malignant melanoma

Most of the moles on our bodies are harmless. However, these moles can develop into malignant melanoma in a few rare cases. Continuous direct exposure of the skin

to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun can cause malignant melanoma. The appearance of a new, different-looking mole or any kind of change in an existing mole could be a sign of skin cancer.

Tracking cancer progression using urine samples 

As malignant melanoma is extremely hostile and usually spreads to other parts of the body, it can be tough to treat such cancers. As it has high probability reoccurring, it is crucial to monitor its progression and treatment response.

Researchers from the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University discovered a method to examine the malignant melanoma with the help of a urine sample, as the procedure of analyzing the development of malignant melanoma can be painful as well as frightening for the person. Scientists discovered that there are some fluorescent molecules produced throughout the growth as well as the development of skin cancer, which can be detected in the urine samples.

In the research, the researchers accumulated the urine samples of patients with malignant melanoma and also healthy individuals. With the help of fluorescence spectrophotometry, these samples were tested for the presence of different cancer biomarkers.

Additionally, the researchers carried out a genetic analysis of these patients to understand the genetics associated with the development of melanoma.

Conclusion of the research

The outcomes of the research revealed that the urine samples from the malignant melanoma patients had different levels of the metabolism-linked fluorescent markers as contrasted to the samples from healthy individuals.

The researchers kept in mind that the stage of melanoma corresponded with the levels of the fluorescent molecules in the urine. Additionally, the fluorescent molecules showed that there were specified genes that were associated with the progression of melanoma.

The researchers concluded that these waste metabolites could be an important marker in easily keeping an eye on the illness.

Source

Urine test to track progression and treatment response of skin cancer

Author: Sruthi S