The initial stream of a urine void.

The ability to easily obtain appropriate and reliable biological samples is critical to advancing life sciences and public/personal health.

Having a sample that is non-invasive and can be self-collected at home has major acceptance and implementation advantages.

Our team has already demonstrated that first-void urine (FVU) samples can replace clinician-collected cervical samples in Human Papillomavirus (HPV) based cervical cancer screening. Using the initial or first-void urine stream is crucial here.

Indeed, the outer layers of the epithelium of the genital tract exfoliate and together with the genital mucus form the utero-cervico-vaginal secretions.

This discharge accumulates between the labia minora, around the urethral opening, and is washed away with the FVU upon initiation of urination.

The URISAMP project is making good progress to demonstrate that, using HPV infection and vaccination as a model, FVU is indeed an ideal genital tract liquid biopsy to monitor both disease and immune response of women at the site of infection. Importantly, diagnostic, screening, and monitoring applications via FVU samples are growing.