The findings of a recent study by Nagoya University researchers suggest that microRNAs in urine could be a promising biomarker to diagnose brain tumours.

Their findings, published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, have indicated that regular urine tests could help early detection and treatment of brain tumours, possibly leading to improved patient survival. Early diagnosis of brain tumours is often difficult, partly because most people undergo a brain CT or MRI scan only after the onset of neurological deficits, such as immobility of limbs, and incapability of speech. When brain tumours are detected by CT or MRI, in many cases, they have already grown too large to be fully removed, which could lower patients' survival rates. From this perspective, accurate, easy, and inexpensive methods of early brain tumour detection are strongly desired.

As a diagnostic biomarker of cancerous tumours, microRNAs (tiny molecules of nucleic acid) have recently received considerable attention. MicroRNAs are secreted from various cells and exist in a stable and undamaged condition within extracellular vesicles in biological fluids like blood and urine. Nagoya University researchers focused on microRNAs in urine as a biomarker of brain tumours. "Urine can be collected easily without putting a burden on the human body", says Nagoya University Associate Professor Atsushi Natsume, a corresponding author of the study.

"Urine-based liquid biopsy hadn't been fully investigated for patients with brain tumours, because none of the conventional methodologies can extract microRNAs from urine efficiently in terms of varieties and quantities. So, we decided to develop a device capable of doing it". The new device they developed is equipped with 100 million zinc oxide nanowires, which can be sterilised and mass-produced, and is, therefore, suitable for actual medical use. The device can extract a significantly greater variety and quantity of microRNAs from only a millilitre of urine compared to conventional methods.

Their analysis of microRNAs collected using the device from the urine of patients with brain tumours and non-cancer individuals revealed that many microRNAs derived from brain tumours actually exist in urine in a stable condition. Next, the researchers examined whether urinary microRNAs can serve as a biomarker of brain tumours, using their diagnostic model based on the expression of microRNAs in urine samples from patients with brain tumours and non-cancer individuals. The results showed that the model can distinguish the patients from non-cancer individuals at a sensitivity of 100 per cent and a specificity of 97 per cent, regardless of the malignancy and size of tumours. The researchers thus concluded that microRNAs in urine is a promising biomarker of brain tumours.

The researchers hope that their findings will contribute to the early diagnosis of aggressive types of brain cancer, like glioblastomas, as well as other types of cancer. Dr. Natsume says, "In the future, by a combination of artificial intelligence and telemedicine, people will be able to know the presence of cancer, whereas doctors will be able to know the status of cancer patients just with a small amount of their daily urine".