A study published in the International Journal of Urology sought to assess the accuracy of a new electronic nose to recognize prostate cancer in urine samples.
In this blind, prospective study on consecutive patients, researchers assessed 174 subjects: 88 (50.6%) in prostate cancer group, and 86 (49.4%) in control group. The researchers analyzed electronic nose performance sensitivity and specificity. The diagnostic accuracy of electronic nose was reported as area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, the researchers noted.
According to the results, the electronic nose in the study population reached a sensitivity 85.2% (95% confidence interval 76.1-91.9; 13 false negatives out of 88), a specificity 79.1% (95% confidence interval 69.0-87.1; 18 false positives out of 86). The investigators further noted that the accuracy of the electronic nose represented as area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.821 (95% confidence interval 0.764-0.879).
“The diagnostic accuracy of electronic nose for recognizing prostate cancer in urine samples is high, promising and susceptible to supplemental improvement,” the researchers concluded. They added that “further studies will be necessary to design a clinical trial to validate electronic nose application in diagnostic prostate cancer nomograms.”