Stanford Urine Test Detected 95% of Bladder Cancer Cases

Stanford Medicine and VA Palo Alto researchers reported that the RNA-based uRARE-seq urine test detected 95% of localized bladder cancer cases with about 90% specificity across 683 samples. The results were published in Nature Medicine on October 2, 2026, but the assay remains investigational and awaits FDA review.

• uRARE-seq reads RNA signals from tumor cells in urine instead of DNA like most liquid biopsies
• 95% sensitivity and roughly 90% specificity across 683 urine samples
• Outperformed standard urine cytology and a DNA-based test on the same sample set
• Not FDA-cleared: cystoscopy remains the clinical standard of care