At-home UroScout urine test detected up to 95% of urothelial cancers in trials

Lauri Ryyppö, who completed a doctoral training pilot at Tampere University, has developed blood- and urine-based tests that patients can use at home to spot tumours earlier than current methods. His blood test flagged ovarian cancer recurrence in more than half of cases about six months earlier than existing methods. The UroScout urine test identified up to 95% of urothelial cancer cases at diagnosis, including most early-stage tumours. That could spare many patients invasive cystoscopies and help reduce healthcare costs. Those results were reported by Tamperelainen.

The Uroscout-1 trial is now evaluating UroScout's accuracy in 600 participants from Finland, Japan and Canada. Recruitment is expected to finish in 2026.

Ryyppö credits the doctoral training pilot with providing three years of stable funding, career events and peer support that were crucial for focusing on his research. Tampere University says the pilot is part of a national 2024–2027 programme that funded 106 doctoral researchers on three-year posts across 13 fields.