The new paper urine test that could spot signs of cancer early
Daily Mail A simple paper test could catch cancer in the earliest stages, when it is easiest to treat.
Similar to a pregnancy test, it analyses urine for tell-tale compounds, and a dark line appears on the paper strip if the result is positive.
Around 130,000 people die each year from cancer in the UK - and although there have been huge advances in treatment, as well as improvements in survival rates, some cancers still remain difficult to detect early, when treatment is more likely to be successful.
Some of the starkest differences are seen in lung cancer patients, with a one-year survival rate of 81 per cent for men with stage one cancer, dropping to 15 per cent for stage four.
One possibility is to test for rogue proteins that are made by cancerous cells but not by healthy ones.
However, these proteins are often present in such low levels inthe disease in the early stages that they are almost impossible to detect.
To get round this, the new test identifies not the proteins themselves, but signs that they are at work in the body.
