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New Urine Test Has Potential to Detect Prostate Cancer, Following Terminal Diagnosis of Olympic Cyclist Sir Chris Hoy

A man standing at a podium looking out, he has two gold Olympic medals around his neck

Health & Wellness

By: Krysten Brenlla
A new and simple urine test to detect prostate cancer is showing promise, outperforming current blood tests in accuracy. If it works, it could mark a historic first: a reliable screening tool for prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer among men in the United States, and is the second-leading cause of cancer death among men. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2025, it’s estimated that there will be approximately 313,780 new cases of prostate cancer, with nearly 35,000 deaths.

New Clinical Trial Sparks Hope for Easy Screening and Prostate Cancer Diagnoses

In the United Kingdom, calls for routine screening has increased following the terminal prostate cancer diagnosis of Sir Chris Hoy, an Olympic cyclist. UK researchers are proposing a new technique to detect prostate cancer through urine with a clinical trial called the TRANSFORM trial – the biggest prostate cancer screening trial in 20 years, backed by the National Health Service, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and the UK government.

Launching later this year, the trial has plans to enroll nearly 300,000 British men over the next eight years, with potential to save thousands of men each year.

Currently, the only way to detect and diagnose prostate cancer is through a blood test that’s used to look for elevated levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which is a protein produced by the prostate gland. However, PSA tests have limited accuracy and have historically led to false positives, unnecessary biopsies, and missed diagnoses.

Research studies behind this potential new urine test examined a different set of proteins by analyzing patients’ tumor cells and looking at which gene messages (mRNA) those cells were making. Then, artificial intelligence was used to identify the set of proteins that were the best cancer indicators.

The test results detected the presence of prostate cancer with much higher precision, with the potential to indicate the severity of the disease on each patient. Yet, despite the promising results, a large clinical trial like the TRANSFORM trial is needed to know if it will perform well.

Symptoms of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is so hard to diagnose because it often develops slowly, and doesn’t typically cause noticeable symptoms in its early stages. Usually, men are diagnosed at late or terminal stages.

However, as the disease progresses, common symptoms to look out for are:

  • Increased frequency of urination, especially at night
  • Increased urgency of urination, or difficulty urinating, which may include starting or stopping urination
  • Weak or interrupted urine stream
  • Pain or burning during urination or ejaculation
  • Blood in urine or semen
  • Erectile dysfunction
  • Back or bone pain
  • Pain or discomfort in the pelvic area, hips, or back
  • Unexplained weight loss
  • Fatigue

If you or a loved one are experiencing any of these symptoms, please reach out to your primary care physician to get a referral to a specialist. For more information on Jackson’s urology services, or to make an appointment, visit https://jacksonhealth.org/services/urology/.

Mark Harkin, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons