Science Sub-Journal: New study confirms that free DNA in urine can potentially be used for cancer detection

For a long time, urinalysis has been the main content of physical examinations, used to detect and manage some diseases and disorders, but not cancer.

In response to this problem, researchers from the City of Hope, Baylor University Medical Center, and Phoenix Children’s Hospital discovered a method of analyzing cell-free DNA (cell-free DNA, also translated as cell-free DNA, referred to as cfDNA) in the urine.

Previous views have believed that DNA fragments in urine are randomly degraded and are too short to provide any meaningful information about complex diseases such as cancer.

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By studying tissue samples from children with various cancers (malignant tumors often metastasize abnormally) and adults with pancreatic cancer (early detection of which is critical to treatment outcomes), these researchers draw The DNA fragmentation patterns in the urine of these patients were analyzed.

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This DNA fragmentation pattern is very similar in many people; the length of the DNA fragments is similar, and the fragmented genomic regions are the same, which helps scientists know which types of cells provide these DNA fragments.

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Although these early results are promising, these researchers say they need to test their findings in a larger population of cancer patients and identify men and women, young and old, and those with diabetes and other chronic diseases.

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