A urological "smell" test for prostate cancer is snaking its way through the R&D process. The University of the West of England's Urological Institute team at Southmead Hospital and the Bristol Royal Infirmary said a pilot of the diagnostic showed promise on 155 men, 58 of whom had prostate cancer and 24 of whom had bladder cancer. "There is an urgent need to identify these cancers at an earlier stage when they are more treatable as the earlier a person is diagnosed the better. After further sample testing the next step is to take this technology and put it into a user friendly format. With help from industry partners we will be able to further develop the Odoreader, which will enable it to be used where it is needed most; at a patient's bedside, in a doctor's surgery, in a clinic or Walk In Centre, providing fast, inexpensive, accurate results," said study collaborator and University of Liverpool professor Chris Probert. Professor Norman Ratcliffe of the University of the West of England described the Odoreader as an electronic nose to sense cancer, saying, "The Odoreader has a 30 metre column that enables the compounds in the urine to travel through at different rates thus breaking the sample into a readable format. This is then translated into an algorithm enabling detection of cancer by reading the patterns presented. The positioning of the prostate gland which is very close to the bladder gives the urine profile a different algorithm if the man has cancer." More