HKBU Scholar Invented Award-winning Urine-based Prostate Cancer Detection Kit

Prostate cancer is the third most common cancers in men in Hong Kong. While medical statistics have reported that one in six men will develop prostate cancer during their lifetimes, which is the fifth most fatal cancer. The disease is curable with minimal side effects if detected early. The “non-invasive, urine-based prostate cancer detection kit”, developed by Prof Gary Wong Ka-leung from the Department of Chemistry of HKBU, is a simple and accurate, urine-based prostate cancer detection kit which innovative test can detect the biomarker affected by cancer cells with an accuracy of up to 90%. It can be easily used at home as users simply need to mix a urine sample with the chemical agent. After a short period of time, users will know if they are likely to have prostate cancer and whether they require further screening and tests. The novel method is faster, non-invasive and can help address the limited sensitivity and specificity problems associated with traditional blood tests, which have an accuracy of around 40% and can only be conducted in a professional laboratory setting.

 

The invention has been filed with patent applications in the United States, Europe, mainland China, Taiwan and the PCT Procedure. This prostate cancer detection kit technology was licensed to Jacobson Pharma Corporation Limited for commercialisation.

 

The invented projects won a gold medal with the Congratulations of Jury and the Thailand Award for the Best International Invention at the 47th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva held in Switzerland.