Cancer detection in five minutes

According to an official, the new system known as URC will hardly cost Rs 1,000 and the result will be known in 3 to 5 minutes.

An easy, simple, quick and cost-effective screening test for cancer of the colon, lung, stomach and bladder, developed by medical scientists of China's Wuhan University, has found its way to Kolkata.

Unlike conventional method involving a battery of tests, including detailed blood examinations, the new system, popularly known as 'URC' (urine test reagent for cancer screening and monitoring), will hardly cost Rs 1,000, said Managing Director of city-based MM Biotech Company Kunal Mukherjee.

Cancer specialist S Mukherjee said the result known in 3 to 5 minutes from the urine.

The system, approved by the State Food and Drug Supervision Bureau of China, has received certification from the Drug Controller of India and certified by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), he said.

If the tests were found positive at this stage, a patient was advised to change their diet pattern, and to eat anti-cancer food, he said.

URC, he said, was used to monitor the progress of cancer treatment.

Mukherjee said the URC system, tested on 300 persons for early detection of cancer in Pune and Mumbai, was successful.

"We conducted trial tests on 25 persons in Kolkata to prove the utility of the new screening system," he added.

Commercial launch of the system, Mukherjee said, would be made here shortly.