Health startup ‘Spotitearly’ is leveraging the remarkable olfactory abilities of dogs to enhance early cancer detection. By utilizing the incredible sense of smell of trained beagles, the company has developed a breath test that can identify breast, colorectal, prostate, and lung cancers with reported 94% accuracy. CEO Shlomi Madar highlights that early detection significantly improves survival rates, with the potential to increase them up to 99% if caught at stage one.
The process involves patients breathing into a mask, which is then analyzed by the dogs. Their behavioral and physiological data is integrated into an AI system for improved accuracy. While the test is currently in clinical trials in the U.S., commercial availability is expected by next year, with plans to expand the range of cancers detectable by training new dog teams.