GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- University of Florida researchers have identified a set of proteins that appear to signal the presence of bladder cancer, a discovery they hope will lead to a simple, fast and noninvasive test that can detect the disease early.

Working with colleagues at the University of Michigan, the scientists used advances in technology to isolate nearly 200 proteins from the urine of patients with and without bladder cancer. Several appear promising as potential biomarkers, including one that studies conducted elsewhere have already linked to liver and ovarian cancer. The findings, available online, are scheduled to be published in the July 6 print edition of the American Chemical Societys Journal of Proteome Research.

Developing a simple dipstick test that would better single out patients whose symptoms are linked to cancer would enable those who simply have an infection to avoid a battery of screenings that typically include cystoscopy, a painful procedure that uses a small camera threaded through the urethra to image the bladders interior. Such a test also could be used to detect cancer sooner, possibly before its signs even surface.

With any cancer, the earlier you find it the better because its not as aggressive in its early stages, and of course its much easier to remove any cancer anywhere in the body if you catch it while its relatively small, said Steve Goodison, an associate professor of surgery at the UF College of Medicine-Jacksonville.

What would really help in this disease would be a test you could use to monitor these patients just by monitoring their urine, he added. If we could develop this test to try to narrow down those whove got infections versus something more serious, that would relieve the patient from pain and worry and (cut health-care costs). The final aim would be to make a test cheap and convenient enough that you can start to think of screening people who dont have any symptoms.