“The world’s first blood test for endometriosis is closer after a successful trial. The Australian company Proteomics International has developed the PromarkerEndo blood test for the diagnosis of endometriosis. The launch of the test is planned in the second quarter of 2024 in Australia, the accuracy of detection in the late stages is 99.7%, in the early stages – more than 85%.”, — write on: unn.ua
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 hardest to detect, the test’s accuracy remained more than 85 percent.
The company behind the patent, Proteomics International, says it is currently adapting the method “for use in a clinical setting”, with a target launch date in Australia of 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 Dec. 30 press release.
Gynecologist Peter Rogers, from the University of Melbourne, said his and his team’s work was “a significant step towards addressing the critical need for a non-invasive, accurate test that can diagnose endometriosis both early and later”.
“But much remains to be done. It is quite possible that some of the control participants of the test were actually undiagnosed positive cases, which affected the accuracy of the test. Now the researchers are improving the algorithm on further data sets,” the publication writes.
Proteomics International says 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 whether it will be approved by the Australian Medicines Regulatory Authority (TGA). But it is quite possible.
In November 2023, some researchers predicted that “a reliable non-invasive biomarker for endometriosis is very likely to emerge in the coming years”.
The study was published in the journal Human Reproduction.
Addition
Endometriosis is a common inflammatory disease that occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows in other parts of the body, forming lesions. The disease can be very painful, but the average patient often suffers debilitating symptoms for up to seven years before they are properly diagnosed.
Today, the only definitive way to diagnose endometriosis is through an operation called a laparoscopy, which is expensive, invasive, and fraught with risks.