Oncologica to advance urine-based prostate cancer screening test

There is currently no national screening programme for the disease in the UK

Oncologica has developed a urine-based screening test for prostate cancer and has launched a funding drive to support its advancement.

The technology, ProstateFocus, uses the Cambridge-based company’s proprietary artificial intelligence-based analysis platform to detect the disease at an early, treatable stage.

There is currently no national screening programme for prostate cancer in the UK, where around 55,100 new cases are diagnosed every year, because there is not yet a reliable test that can accurately pick up the disease.

Marco Loddo, co-founder and scientific director at Oncologica, highlighted ProstateFocus’ ability to distinguish between aggressive prostate cancers and harmless ones that require no treatment.

“This accuracy ensures that men are not subjected to unnecessary, costly and invasive procedures, preventing harm and delivering major cost savings to healthcare providers,” he said.

The tool has already been shown in clinical trials to detect 90% of stage 1 to stage 3 cancers and Oncologica is now aiming to raise £6m to support the completion of clinical trials and regulatory approval in the UK, Europe and North America within the next two years.

The fundraising drive, led by FRP Corporate Finance, will also help the company commence production of a market-ready Laboratory Developed Test and scale the technology for widespread use.

Gareth Williams, Oncologica’s co-founder and medical director, said: “ProstateFocus is the result of years of research into how prostate cancers can be detected early by identifying rapidly growing abnormal cells being shed into urine.

“Our urine test will revolutionise early detection rates and patient outcomes, with the potential to become as routine as existing screenings for bowel cancer and cervical cancer.”