A non-invasive diagnostic approach offers several advantages, including painless patient assessment, low infection risk, and the ability to provide immediate clinical insights from collected data. However, current non-invasive diagnostic methods for urinary tract-related diseases are limited in clinical settings, presenting an opportunity for further exploration. While imaging and pathological examinations are commonly used, they are less convenient than non-invasive methods. Biomarkers play a critical role in precision medicine by enabling better classification of disease risk, prognosis, and therapeutic response. While histological specimens provide direct molecular information, liquid biopsy offers a non-invasive and cost-effective alternative to traditional tissue biopsy.

The primary objective of this study is to develop a non-invasive biomarker assay using urine as the sample material. Due to the typically low concentration of proteins in urine, mass spectrometry (MS) and immunoassay technologies—known for their high sensitivity and specificity—are commonly employed in biomarker discovery. Our lab has already applied proteomic and metabolomic platforms to identify and validate several biomarkers, and we have filed patents for their use in managing both benign and malignant urological diseases.

In pursuit of precision medicine, this study aims to accelerate the development of urinary biomarker assays by focusing on the integration of multi-omics data, as well as detection of biomarkers in urinary cell debris, with the goal of improving assay sensitivity, stability, and reliability. We envision that such non-invasive, rapid tests will be used for early detection of urological diseases and for monitoring high-risk patients. Students involved in this research will gain valuable experience in biological mass spectrometry, analytical chemistry, proteomics, metabolomics, precision medicine, and biostatistics.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0063-4965

Lab website: https://sites.google.com/site/cguytc/home