Researchers at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia, have identified fluorescent molecules in urine that could help develop a diagnostic tool for malignant melanoma.
Currently, malignant melanoma patients require invasive biopsies to diagnose and track the progression of their cancer. Using this novel method, physicians could use less invasive urine samples as a diagnostic approach. The new method uses fluorescent molecules in the sample to reveal disease progression. Their research is published in the journal, Open Chemistry.
Researchers focused on specific fluorescent molecules that cancer cells produce during metabolic processes involved in their growth and progression, and which end up in urine. They carried analysis on urine samples from patients with malignant melanoma and healthy controls using fluorescence spectroscopy in conjunction with genetic analysis to examine genes involved in melanoma progression.
The urine samples from the malignant melanoma patients contained different levels of the metabolism-linked fluorescent markers when compared to the controls. The levels of the fluorescent molecules in the urine correlated with the stage of melanoma and the expression of genes that are linked to melanoma progression, suggesting that the molecules have significant potential as biomarkers.