Prostate Cancer-Induced Changes in Urinary Odors at Biomarker Concentrations of PPQ with Validation by Sniffer Mouse Behavioural Assays

Review Data

Q: Is the topic relevant to the journal area of interest? Is it contemporary and interesting for

researchers?

A: Excellent

Abstract & Keywords

Q: Are all required components included in the abstract? Are the keywords appropriately chosen?

A: Very good

Goal

Q: Is the goal explicitly stated in the Introduction? Is its formulation clear and unambiguous?

A: Good

Structure

Q: Is the paper's structure coherent? Is it in coherence with the goal of the paper?

A: Very good

Tools and Methods

Q: Are methods the author uses adequate and well used?

A: Very good

Discussion & Conclusion

Q: Is it related to the results presented before? Do you consider them as coherent?

A: Good

Comments:

This study reveals the super-sensitivity of mice to ppq- to thousand-molecule-level olfactory cues of urinary volatile biomarkers for prostate and bladder cancers with olfactory-based validation. The study is well designed and executed. The Methods and Results are adequately described. The Discussion puts forth the rationale for taking up the study, effectively describes the relevant literature and enlists the implications of the findings from the present study in that context. The study is well supported with statistical data and the figures and tables are briefly explained. It further concludes that complementary measures with cancer-characteristic biomarkers could improve the specificity and accuracy of diagnosis before the biopsy. The results also encourage similar studies to collect urinary volatile biomarker profiles of various types of cancers as non-invasive biomarkers and their cancer species-characteristic profiles.

Literature

Q: Does the author utilize relevant literature?

A: Good

Author's knowledge

Q: What is the level of the author’s knowledge? Does the author utilize all recent contributions relevant to the topic?

A: Very good

Length

Q: Is the length of the paper adequate to the significance of the topic? Do you suggest shortening the paper without losing its value?

A: Good

Figures & Tables

Q: Does the author use them suitably? Are legend and notations clear?

A: Very good

Writing style

Q: Is it clear and understandable?

A: Very good

Further comments on the paper

Comments: This study shows that sniffer mice can efficiently discriminate urinary odors of patients with prostate cancer using an odor plume-guided Y-maze behavioral assay. Mice are known to express >1,100 olfactory receptors, which is 3-fold higher than humans, and found to be superior in terms of discriminating closely related odors with higher accuracy of over 95%. It also validates a set of urinary volatile biomarkers with their original relative concentrations as prostate cancer-characteristic olfactory cue in five-patient urine mixture samples. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men. The study holds significance as these multiple biomarker profiles could be useful for accurate and non-invasive testing for diagnosis of prostate cancer. It further finds that after the radical prostatectomy some of biomarker compounds remained to be more than two times higher in concentrations than those of healthy volunteers.

Q: Would you recommend this manuscript for further publication?

A: Yes - Suitable to be published

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Science Repository Team