An Australian medical technology company wants to launch a blood test for endometriosis in the first half of this year, reports ScienceAlert, according to UNN.
Details
In a recent peer-reviewed study, the company's new test proved 99.7% accurate in distinguishing patients with severe endometriosis from those without the disease but with similar symptoms.
Even in the early stages of the disease, when blood markers can be the most difficult to detect, the test's accuracy remained more than 85 percent.
The company behind the patent, Proteomics International, says it is now adapting the method "for use in clinical settings," with a target launch date in Australia in the second quarter of this year.
The test is called PromarkerEndo.
"This achievement marks a significant step toward non-invasive, personalized care for a condition that has long been underserved by current medical approaches," said Richard Lipscomb, Managing Director of Proteomics International, in a December 30 press release.
Gynecologist Peter Rogers from the University of Melbourne said that his and his team's work is "a significant step towards addressing the critical need for a non-invasive, accurate test that can diagnose endometriosis both early and later in the course of the disease.
"But there is still much to be done. It's possible that some of the control participants in the trial were actually undiagnosed positive cases, which affected the accuracy of the test. The researchers are now refining the algorithm on further data sets," the publication writes.
Proteomics International claims that patents for PromarkerEndo are "pending in all major jurisdictions", starting with Australia.
It remains to be seen whether the company's blood test will live up to the hype and be approved by the Australian Medicines and Healthcare Products Administration (TGA). But it is quite possible.
In November 2023, some researchers predicted that "a reliable non-invasive biomarker for endometriosis is likely to emerge in the coming years.
The study was published in the journal Human Reproduction.
Addendum
Endometriosis is a common inflammatory disease that occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows in other parts of the body to form lesions. The disease can be very painful, but the average patient often suffers from debilitating symptoms for up to seven years before being properly diagnosed.
Today, the only definitive way to diagnose endometriosis is through a surgery called laparoscopy, which is expensive, invasive, and fraught with risks.