Development and validation of the utLIFE-PC algorithm for noninvasive detection of prostate cancer in urine: A prospective, observational study

Cell Rep Med. 2024 Dec 6:101870. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2024.101870. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Overbiopsy is a serious health issue in prostate cancer (PCa) diagnostics. We have developed a urine tumor DNA multidimensional bioinformatic algorithm, utLIFE, to avoid unnecessary biopsy. The objective is to recognize all or clinically significant PCa. Of the 801 participants recruited in our study, 630 are selected for subsequent analysis. In the training cohort (n = 237), utLIFE-PC gets an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.967 and a sensitivity of 85.57% at 95% specificity. In the independent prospective validation cohort (n = 343), utLIFE-PC has an AUC of 0.929, sensitivity of 84.24%, and specificity of 93.26%. Notably, in patients with ≥grade group (GG)2 and ≥GG3, the assay's sensitivity is still excellent (85.33% and 87.10%, respectively). The model shows better performance than prostate-specific antigen (PSA) (p < 0.001) or the single-dimensional biomarkers (methylation, p < 0.001; copy-number variations [CNVs], p < 0.001; mutation, p < 0.001). The utLIFE-PC model can potentially optimize the PCa diagnostic process and avoid unnecessary biopsies. This study was registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2300071837.