A Japanese firm is trying to carry out the world's first experiment to test for cancer using urine samples, which would greatly facilitate screening for the deadly disease.

Engineering and IT conglomerate Hitachi developed the basic technology to detect breast or colon cancer from urine samples two years ago.

It will now begin testing the method using some 250 urine samples, to see if samples at room temperature are suitable for analysis.

Research published earlier this year demonstrated that a new blood test has shown promise towards detecting eight different kinds of tumours before they spread elsewhere in the body.

The Hitachi technology centres around detecting waste materials inside urine samples that act as a "biomarker" a naturally occurring substance by which a particular disease can be identified, the company said in a statement.

The experiment will start this month until through September in cooperation with Nagoya University in central Japan.