Using the powerful noses of tiny worms, a Japanese biotech firm claims to have developed the world’s first early screening test for pancreatic cancer.
Hirotsu Bio Science launched its N-NOSE plus Pancreas test this month, marketing directly to Japanese consumers and aiming to bring the test to the United States by 2023.
Users send a urine sample to a lab via a special mail pouch, where it is placed in a petri dish with a species of nematode. According to the company, the creatures, known scientifically as C. elegans, have much stronger olfactory senses than dogs and follow their noses to cancer cells.
According to company founder and CEO Takaaki Hirotsu, who has been researching the 1-millimetre long animals for 28 years, this makes them a powerful diagnostic tool.
“What’s very important with early detection of cancer and these kinds of diseases is being able to sense very trace amounts,” Hirotsu told. “And when it comes to that, I think that machines don’t stand a chance against the capabilities that living organisms have.”
Hirotsu Bio launched its first N-NOSE consumer test in January 2020, claiming the ability to determine whether or not users were at high risk of cancer. The original test was administered to approximately 250,000 people, with approximately 5%-6% receiving high-risk readings.
The company changed the genetic code of the nematodes in the latest version so that they would swim away from pancreatic cancer samples. Hirotsu Bio began with pancreatic cancer because of its difficulty in diagnosis and rapid progression.
The company plans to launch targeted tests for liver cancer, as well as cervical and breast cancer, in the coming years.
The pancreas test kit can cost up to 70,000 yen ($505), which is relatively high for a diagnostic test in Japan, which has a nationalised health-care system with fixed prices for drugs and procedures.
Hirotsu explained that the price tag, as well as TV ads featuring caricatures of the worms and pancreas, are part of the process of building a brand, and that the price may decrease as the company grows.
Some doctors have criticised this direct approach to consumers and questioned the results’ medical usefulness.
Masahiro Kami, the head of the Medical Governance Research Institute think tank in Tokyo, said that false positives could greatly outnumber actual cases of pancreatic cancer, making the results “not usable”.
The company counters that N-accuracy NOSE’s is comparable to other diagnostic tests and that it is intended as an early screening tool that can guide patients to further testing and treatment sooner.
To read our blog on “In Beijing, China-Pakistan Science and Technology cooperation center has been inaugurated,” click here
