Howl-elujah!
You’ve probably heard that dogs can be trained to sniff out cancer.
Now, Israeli startup SpotItEarly is harnessing that remarkable ability — along with groundbreaking technology — to launch medicine’s next secret weapon.
The biotech company is developing a revolutionary at-home cancer screening test that’s part pup, part AI.
Here’s how it works: You order a test that arrives at your door, breathe into a high-tech mask that resembles an N95 for three minutes and mail the sample to SpotItEarly’s lab.
There, a team of professionally trained dogs will give it a good sniff — and if there’s any cancer present, they’ll know.
“Our dogs are natural workers and love being mentally stimulated by their sense of smell. Training them to detect odors wasn’t a challenge; it is in their nature,” Shlomi Madar, CEO of SpotitEarly, told The Post.
“With around 250-300 million receptors, a dog’s sense of smell is estimated to be between 10,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than a human’s. That is what makes them highly effective for scent-based tasks, such as those in police forces or for detecting diseases in humans.”
According to Madar, the dogs make their diagnosis by detecting cancer odor signatures in a patient’s volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — biological information from the blood in our lungs that travels into the air we exhale.
As incredible as these pup-fessional super-sniffers are, the real magic happens when canine intelligence meets artificial intelligence.
“As the detection dogs are sniffing the samples in the lab, we use our proprietary AI platform, LUCID, to track and analyze their physiological and behavioral signals, collecting thousands of data points per second,” Madar explained.
“LUCID will generate a positive lab result if a cancer signature is identified in a sample. This fusion of advanced technology with the extraordinary olfactory abilities of canines enables each sample to be screened in a fraction of a second, making the solution highly scalable.”
The goal is to spot cancers earlier, when they’re easier and cheaper to treat.
“Too often, cancer diagnoses come too late,” Madar said. “Our goal is to reduce late-stage and potentially fatal cancer diagnoses. The data is clear: when we detect cancer earlier, we significantly improve survival rates and outcomes.”
The test, which is in late-stage development, is expected to hit the market in 2026 with an estimated price tag of $250.
That’s per cancer type, with bundled discounts for multi-cancer screenings.
“We plan to work with health insurers to cover the test to reduce the financial burden on patients,” he said. “Once it becomes commercially available, this will be a high priority for us.”
In a recent clinical study, SpotItEarly’s cancer-screening method clocked a 94% accuracy.
If it works, it may save you a trip to the doctor and an unpleasant procedure.
“Many individuals avoid routine cancer screenings because they can be uncomfortable and invasive,” Madar said.
“By simplifying the process to a self-administered screening test where users just breathe into a mask, [this] levels that barrier and encourages more proactive testing.”
Research has found that only 14% of cancers in the US are diagnosed by a traditional screening test.
While SpotItEarly is not looking to replace them, Madar said he does want to “improve the cancer diagnosis and treatment ecosystem, shifting it from sick care to true health care.”
Now — back to the dogs.
The pups work a few hours a day in teams and they’re rewarded with treats and love.
When they’re off the clock, they get outdoor playtime, belly rubs and plenty of human attention.
And when they retire? They’re adopted into loving homes — often by the very people who worked with them.
“Our dogs are not lab animals; they’re truly a part of the SpotItEarly team,” Madar said.
And while cancer is the priority for now — especially as it’s mysteriously on the rise in younger people — Madar believes the tech could one day help sniff out other diseases too, including Parkinson’s and serious infections.
“We aim to make early diagnosis the norm, consequently increasing the chances of survival at scale,” he said.
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