The results suggest the test could help identify patients at greater risk of bladder cancer who may need to be prioritised for urgent cystoscopy.
Researchers hope it could reduce the number of patients requiring urgent cystoscopies, invasive procedures in which a small camera is inserted through the urethra into the bladder.
The study was led by the University of Birmingham and diagnostics company Nonacus and involved patients at seven hospitals in England and Scotland.
The Galeas urine test identified 92 per cent of bladder cancer cases. A negative result meant there was more than a 99 per cent chance that the patient did not have bladder cancer.
The test checks urine for genetic material shed by bladder cancer. It looks for more than 450 DNA mutations associated with the disease across 23 genes.
Michelle Mitchell from Cancer Research UK said: “Too many people are waiting longer than they should for a bladder cancer diagnosis, and it’s essential that we find ways to tackle this problem.
“It’s early days for this test and further research is needed, but it’s vital that we continue to find faster and less invasive ways to help diagnose or rule out cancer.”
More than 300,000 cystoscopies are performed in the UK each year, with significant waiting lists in some areas.
Researchers said the urine test is not a replacement for cystoscopy. Instead, it could help doctors identify patients at greater risk who should be prioritised for urgent procedures.
If a larger trial is successful, the approach could potentially spare tens of thousands of patients each year from undergoing cystoscopy.
The test was originally developed by the University of Birmingham with funding from Cancer Research UK.
Richard Bryan, study co-author and professor at the University of Birmingham, described the results as showing “very promising early performance” in a large real-world patient population.
The test has since been commercialised by Nonacus under a licensing agreement, with part of the revenue returned to the university and Cancer Research UK.
