Hitachi Ltd. said it is developing a simple urine test to screen for cancers of the breast and colon after trials with small numbers of patients helped it identify those suffering from the disease.
The company, along with Summit Pharmaceuticals International Corp. and Sumitomo Corp., tested urine from 15 patients with breast cancer, 15 with colon cancer and 15 healthy people and identified about 10 biomarkers that allowed researchers to distinguish those with cancer, Minoru Sakairi, chief scientist at Hitachi, told reporters Tuesday in Tokyo.
