Scientists have developed the world’s first test for pancreatic cancer – using tiny WORMS that sniff out tumors

Scientists have developed the world’s first early screening test for pancreatic cancer — which uses worms to sniff out tumors.

According to its creators, the test was published this month in Japan — It is 100 percent accurate in detecting cancer and can detect it in the earliest stages.

Tokyo-based biotechnology company Hirotsu Bio Science hopes to bring the test to the US by next year.

Users mail a urine sample to the lab, which is added to a petri dish filled with dozens of worms called nematodes, about one millimeter long.

They are known for their strong sense of smell, which they use to search for their prey in the wild.

That makes the one-millimeter animals a powerful diagnostic tool, says company founder and CEO Takaaki Hirotsu, who has been researching them for 28 years.

Hirotsu genetically modified the worms so that they could swim away from the pancreatic cancer samples.

Test studies has been shown to be more effective at detecting bladder cancer tumors than other widely used detection methods, such as blood tests.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types because it is difficult to detect early due to the lack of symptoms, and when it is detected it is usually too late.

Approximately 50,000 Americans die of pancreatic cancer each year, and only one in 10 people survive five years after diagnosis.

Because of the way it is sold directly to patients, the test would not need FDA approval to be available in the US.

Hirotsu said: ‘What is very important in the early detection of cancer and such diseases is the ability to feel very small amounts.

‘Speaking of which, I don’t think machines stand a chance against the abilities of living organisms.’

Hirotsu Bio launched its first N-NOSE test in January 2020, which it claimed showed whether users were at high risk of cancer.

About a quarter of a million people were tested, and five to six percent got high-risk readings.

Pancreatic test kits are sold directly to consumers, rather than healthcare professionals referring patients for the test, and cost $505.

Hirotsu first focused on pancreatic cancer because it is difficult to diagnose and progresses very quickly.

There is also no single diagnostic test that can determine whether a person has pancreatic cancer.

The company plans to launch a similar test for liver, cervical and breast cancer in the next few years.

But some doctors are skeptical of the results and the consumer-driven approach.

Masahiro Kami, head of the Medical Governance Research Institute in Tokyo, warned that false positives could greatly exceed the number of actual cases of pancreatic cancer, making the results ‘unusable’.

Hirotsu claimed that the test’s accuracy rivals other diagnostic tools and that it is intended as an early screening method so that patients can access further testing and treatment without delay.

TV commercials using caricatures of worms and pancreases are used in Japan to whip up tests and will help the company build its brand, Mr. Hirotsu said.

If the company can scale up, the high cost of the test could come down over time, he added.

Asked if he particularly likes worms, Mr Hirotsu said: ‘I feel like I have to say that I like nematodes and find them cute, but that’s not the case at all.

‘Really, I think of them only as research materials and nothing more.’