Experts ‘encouraged’ by new prostate cancer test

Research scientists at the university, working alongside doctors at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, have completed early-stage clinical trials.

They say that the signs are “extremely encouraging”, with a 94% detection rate of prostate tumours.

The trials are set to continue – although realistically it could be between three and five years before the technique can be used in a clinical setting.

Professor Alan McNeill, a consultant urological surgeon at the Western General Hospital, said the initial trial results provided useful information for the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.

He said: “The technology has the potential to significantly enhance diagnostic accuracy, help clinicians like me to carry out more targeted biopsies, and even focus treatments with greater precision.

“I can anticipate it benefiting treatments like focal therapy by allowing us to pinpoint and treat cancerous tissue with greater accuracy.

“Nearly every week, my colleagues and I meet men in their 50s or early 60s suffering from advanced prostate cancer that leaves them with fewer treatment options.”