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Researchers at MIT envision an annual health checkup that includes a simple urine test that would diagnose cancer, although so far, it has only been tested in mice. The new diagnostic system is built around a specially designed nanoparticle that can produce synthetic biomarkers in urine if a person has cancer. To locate the source, the researchers have tweaked the formula so nanoparticles will gather at the site of tumors and be clearly visible under a PET scan. Every year you could get a urine test as part of a general checkup, said Sangeeta Bhatia, lead author of the study published in Nature Materials. "We have a lot more work to do on the science to get there, but that's where we would like to go in the long run.
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