Abstract
Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death among men. It is an asymptomatic and slow growing tumour, which starts occurring in young men, but can be detected only around the age of 40–50. Although its long latency period and potential curability make prostate cancer a perfect candidate for screening programs, the current procedure lacks in specificity. Researchers are rising to the challenge of developing innovative tools able of detecting the disease during its early stage that is the most curable. In recent years, the interest in characterisation of biological fluids aimed at the identification of tumour-specific compounds has increased significantly, since cell neoplastic transformation causes metabolic alterations leading to volatile organic compounds release. In the scientific literature, different approaches have been proposed. Many studies focus on the identification of a cancer-characteristic “odour fingerprint” emanated from biological samples through the application of sensorial or senso-instrumental analyses, others suggest a chemical characterisation of biological fluids with the aim of identifying prostate cancer (PCa)-specific biomarkers. This paper focuses on the review of literary studies in the field of prostate cancer diagnosis, in order to provide an overview of innovative methods based on the analysis of urine, thereby comparing them with the traditional diagnostic procedures.
Highlights
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common diagnosed cancer in Europe and America and the second most common cause of cancer death among men [1]
This paper focuses on the review of literary studies in the field of medical diagnostics about innovative methods for early prostate cancer (PCa) detection based on the analysis of urine, considering a timeframe of publication between 2008 and 2017
We tried to give an overview of the innovative techniques that are being studied in the field of PCa diagnosis
Summary
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common diagnosed cancer in Europe and America and the second most common cause of cancer death among men [1]. 161,360 new cases of PCa and 26,730 deaths in 2017 [2]. PCa is an asymptomatic tumour, which starts occurring in men aging 20–30 years, but can be detected only in the fourth-fifth decade [3]. Symptoms appear only when the disease has reached an advanced stage, reducing the number of adoptable treatments and patients’ chances of surviving [4]. The long latency period of PCa and its potential curability in early stages make this disease a perfect candidate for screening programs [5]. PCa diagnosis is challenging because of the late onset of symptoms and the limits of the current diagnostic procedures
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