Most common cancer in men could be spotted with simple injection

Tests for the most common cancer in men could soon become much easier and involve just a simple injection in the arm, potentially saving thousands of lives every year through early detection and treatment. The revolutionary test for prostate cancer was approved this week, March 6.

Piflufolastat, a single injection test, could soon become ubiquitous with high-tech tests to not only detect the disease but also locate cancerous cells in the prostate.

Approved by UK drug regulators this week, Piflufolastat is administered through a single injection in the arm, which is then followed by a PET scan. This creates a 3D image of the body, with the newly approved drug highlighting cancerous prostate cells on the scan.

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Currently, the main test for prostate cancer is a blood test which detects specific markers in the blood, which may indicate the presence of cancer. This new single-injection test would reveal the presence of prostate cancer, which can often go undetected, and then reveal their location in the body.

The injection works by binding to a specific protein that is often found in cancerous prostate cells, before producing a small amount of radioactivity, allowing the doctor to zero in on the disease. In a study of 385 men with prostate cancer, the test was 96 per cent accurate at spotting the disease.

In a further human trial, the test was able to spot at least one cancerous lesion in two thirds of patients who had otherwise tested negative for prostate cancer.

Julian Beach, interim director of the UK drug regulating body MHRA, said: "Keeping patients safe and enabling their access to high quality, safe and effective medical