Medical Minutes

At-Home Urine Test for Prostate Cancer

Researchers at Vanderbilt and the University of Michigan are now reporting that they have come up with a simple at-home urine test for prostate cancer screening. Traditional prostate cancer screening with PSA testing and biopsy has been shown to lead to unnecessary procedures and overdiagnosis of low-grade cancers, according to researchers Dr. Jeffrey Tosoian, who is an assistant professor of Urology and director of Translational Cancer Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.

“The test is highly accurate for ruling out the presence of clinically significant prostate cancers, those that merit treatment. So, patients with a negative test result can confidently avoid having to undergo MRI or biopsy,” said Dr. Tosoian. “In the current study, this non-invasive urine test would have allowed patients with an elevated PSA to avoid 34-53% of unnecessary biopsies.”  

MyProstateScore 2.0 (MPS2) urine test is a non-invasive test used to help identify high-grade prostate cancers that need early detection and treatment by analyzing 18 genes associated with prostate cancer. In a 2024 study, Dr. Tosoian and colleagues developed and validated the test in urine collected after a digital rectal exam, but the new study re-validated the test in urine obtained without the exam and the accuracy was very similar.  

The test is used to rule out the presence of clinically significant prostate cancer that require treatment with high accuracy in men being evaluated for prostate cancer due to elevated serum PSA (PSA >3 ng/ml).  “Rectal exams are no fun,” said Dr. Tosoian. “These findings will increase the impact of the test, as it can now be used for at-home testing.”

This urine test will now be tested on men undergoing active surveillance for low-grade prostate cancer. If proven to be similarly accurate in this setting, use of MPS2 could eliminate or reduce the need for prostate biopsies during active surveillance, enabling reliable non-invasive monitoring of low-grade cancers. 

MIND Diet May Boost Brain Health

A good diet should align with specific nutritional and health goals. Now in its 15th year, U.S. News’ Best Diets examines 38 diets among 21 categories. The MIND diet was ranked among the top four overall, and the best for brain health and cognition. “We are excited to see the MIND diet’s recognition as one of the top diets in multiple categories by U.S. News & World Report for the eighth year in a row,” said Jennifer Ventrelle, registered dietitian and MIND diet researcher. “Its high rankings in areas like brain health and cognition, healthy eating, and mental health reflect the scientific evidence supporting its benefits.”

Combining elements of the Mediterranean and DASH diets, the MIND diet emphasizes the consumption of brain-boosting foods like leafy greens, berries, nuts, extra-virgin olive oil, whole grains and fish, while limiting foods that are linked to cognitive decline, such as red and processed meats, fried foods and sweets.

U.S. News analyzed the latest industry research and consulted with renowned medical and nutrition experts to identify the most effective and sustainable diets for a wide variety of lifestyle goals and health conditions, allowing individuals to choose the diet that best fits them. U.S. News’ evaluation of diets followed a methodology devised in partnership with the Harris Poll, which factors in evaluations from 69 expert panelists, including medical doctors, registered dietitians, nutritional epidemiologists, chefs and weight loss researchers.

Blood Pressure Control Good for Brain Health

A new study is suggesting that good blood pressure control may reduce the risks of cognitive impairment. The National Institutes of Health-supported Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) Memory and Cognition in Decreased Hypertension (SPRINT MIND) study involved 9,361 participants aged 50 years and older at more than 100 clinic sites in the United States and Puerto Rico. Participants were randomly assigned to a systolic blood pressure goal of either less than 120 mm Hg (intensive treatment) or less than 140 mm Hg (standard treatment). 

Participants were followed for a median of seven years, with cognitive assessments conducted both in-person and via telephone. Participants were then classified as having no cognitive impairment, mild cognitive impairment or probable dementia. “We found that the intensive treatment group had a sustained lower incidence of developing cognitive impairment compared to those in the standard treatment group,” said study investigator David M. Reboussin, who is a professor of biostatistics and data science at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Researchers found that participants in the intensive treatment group had a lower rate of mild cognitive impairment and a lower combined rate of mild cognitive impairment or probable dementia. In 2015, researchers demonstrated that intensive blood pressure management reduced cardiovascular disease and lowered the risk of death by 30-40% in persons with hypertension. 

SPRINT was stopped early due to the success of the trial in reducing cardiovascular disease. As a result, participants were on intensive blood pressure lowering treatment for a shorter period than originally planned. The authors at that time concluded that the shorter time made it difficult to accurately determine the role of intensive blood pressure control in dementia cases. 

Five years later, in 2019, researchers showed that there was a significantly reduced risk of developing mild cognitive impairment for up to five years following the initial 3.3 years of intensive blood pressure control. These latest SPRINT MIND findings showed the same previously observed significant reduction in cognitive impairment rates, but over a longer period of at least seven years.  

John Schieszer is an award-winning national journalist and radio and podcast broadcaster of The Medical Minute. He can be reached at medicalminutes@gmail