Urinary Markers by SpectrosCopy: Diagnostic Aid in oncologY - Application to Urological Cancers

Urologic cancers affect the organs and structures of the male and female urinary tract and the male reproductive system. Bladder cancer (BCa) is the second urological cancer in incidence after prostate cancer and represents the 10th most common cancer in the world. This cancer has high recurrence and progression rates. Cystoscopy and urine cytology are the current gold-standard examination for bladder cancer. Nevertheless, the first is invasive and the latter has low sensitivity especially for low-grade bladder cancer. Therefore, it is critical to implement accurate, non- invasive and sensitive examination tool to diagnose patients with bladder cancer at an early stage.

On the one hand, urine is collected non-invasively and considered as a proximal biofluid from bladder. On the other hand, vibrational spectroscopy including Infrared and Raman spectroscopy is widely used for the analysis of biological samples and provides a molecular fingerprint of the sample with minimum or no sample preparation. Applied on urine, this technique may offer interesting alternative for bladder cancer diagnosis and monitoring. Hence, this research project aims to evaluate the analytical capabilities of urinary vibrational spectroscopy with the objective of developing a diagnostic test for urothelial bladder cancer.

The study is planned for 36 months. Patients that approve their participation in the study will respond to a questionnaire allowing us to have clinical information. From these patients, urine samples will be collected in Urology department of Reims University Hospital. Urine samples will be directly analyzed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and/or Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy then stored at -80°C for further analysis.