Non-invasive follow-up of urinary tract cancers

Project Information

ENSURE

Grant agreement ID: 101069405

DOI

10.3030/101069405

Project closed

EC signature date 20 June 2022

Start date 1 July 2022

End date 30 June 2024

Funded under

• European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 150 000,00

Coordinated by

NOVA ID FCT - ASSOCIACAO PARA A INOVACAO E DESENVOLVIMENTO DA FCT
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ENSURE (Non-invasive follow-up of urinary tract cancers)

Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2024-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Bladder cancer is the most common malignancy of the urinary tract with 573,000 new cases and 213,000 deaths in 2020 worldwide and affecting more men than women in a 4:1 ratio. This cancer has the highest lifetime treatment costs per patient of all cancers, which is mainly attributed to the intensive follow-up procedures of patients after diagnostics and surgery. Follow-up is made recurring to extremely invasive and low-patient compliant tests. The ENSURE project aimed to establish the proof-of-concept for a non-invasive and high-patient complaint urine-based and low-cost test for the follow-up of bladder cancer patients. To accomplish this, we approached the project from both Technical and Business perspectives, with a perfect synergy between the research and business teams, and a close contact with clinical collaborators and stakeholders. The urine-based test proposed by ENSURE is non-invasive, easy to use, affordable, and fast, resulting in a technique that is simple to perform and could easily be done in complement to other non-invasive techniques, to decrease the number of required cystoscopies during the lifetime of blader cancer patients.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The ENSURE project involved both research and business teams, working closely with clinical collaborators. Thus, there are various dimensions to ENSURE´s tasks and achievements. The aim of the project was to validate the feasibility of a non-invasive chemical fingerprinting method, inspired in olfaction, from both a technical and business perspectives. From a technical perspective, we addressed fast and low-cost methods to discriminate between bladder cancer patients with relapse and non-relapse of the disease after surgery, using urine as the biological sample. Urine samples are very easy and cheap to collect, with minimal discomfort to the patient. The urine-based test proposed by ENSURE achieved performance indicators of sensitivity and specificity comparable with the current golden method (cystoscopy), therefore representing a potentially feasible follow-up test for bladder cancer patients. From a business perspective, desk research and interviews validated the need for ENSURE. These efforts identified the significant costs incurred by hospitals and the National Health Systems for bladder cancer patients follow-up. Furthermore, interviews highlighted the importance of test accuracy and patient compliance to stakeholders, further confirming the strong fit between our solution and the identified problem.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The ENSURE project resulted in a new solution that can be used as a valuable complement to the current bladder cancer follow-up methods to reduce the number of required cystoscopies during the lifetime of bladder cancer patients. Being easy to perform, the non-invasive solution proposed by ENSURE could be combined with other non-invasive methods during the follow-up scheme of the patients. To further validate the solution, more research should be done involving a larger population of patients.
ENSURE's core value proposition, validated during the Proof of Concept (PoC), is a non-invasive, rapid, and cost-effective urine test for monitoring bladder cancer patients. This innovative approach eliminates the need for invasive cystoscopy procedures, offering a safer and more convenient alternative that does not require a doctor's presence during the test. Results are delivered within a day using environmentally friendly techniques, saving both time and money. For a complete analysis, the time needed is 20 minutes while costs are reduced because they are no longer needed (anesthesia, anesthesiologist, urologist, operating room to do the test).

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