Early Dog Cancer Detection with Urine-Sniffing Worms | Dr. Page Wages & Chan Namgong
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- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- Worms are helping screen dogs for cancer by sniffing their urine. Could this new screening method help catch dog cancer early?
A company in Raleigh, North Carolina, is using worms to sniff dog urine for cancer metabolites. It’s a simple, non-invasive, relatively inexpensive way to screen for cancer. Could this test catch cancer early enough to make a dent in the number of dogs who succumb to their #1 killer?
Six to ten million dogs are diagnosed with cancer every year in the U.S. alone, and veterinarians think half of those cases could be treated and cured if caught early. But our canine companions are naturally stoic, so we don’t often get it early enough. If early detection methods were available and less expensive, it would help us catch cancer earlier. And that might save millions of dogs every year from their deadliest illness.
Imaging tests like ultrasound, x-ray, and MRI are expensive and invasive. Few dog lovers can afford to engage them routinely once a dog hits their senior years at age seven.
Oncotect’s promise is that their urine test, which costs much less and involves a simple urine catch, will help find dog cancer early. Once they receive the urine in their lab, the company uses C. elegans nematodes, tiny little worms, to “sniff” the urine. Their behavior helps discern whether cancer by-products are present in the urine sample.
We are joined today by Oncotect CEO and founder, Chan Namgong. Also, Dr. Page Wages, a Raleigh-area veterinarian who has been using Oncotect for years with hundreds of patients and says this urine test has changed the way she screens for cancer.
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Related Links:
Oncotect website: oncotect.co/
Chapters:
00:00 START
00:03 Introduction
01:21 What are C. Elegans
02:40 Using C. Elegans To Detect Cancer?
04:55 Conversation with Dr. Page Wages
09:29 False Positives Using Oncotect?
14:18 The Most Bizarre Dog Cancer Oncotect Found
15:02 How Often Dr. Wages Uses Oncotect
21:23 Conversation with Chan Namgong, CEO and Founder of Oncotect
21:44 How Worms Can Be Used to Detect Dog Cancer
24:11 Oncotect Reliability
26:01 Degree of Effectiveness
28:12 All About Nematodes
31:44 What’s on the Report
34:41 How Much Oncotect Costs
43:48 How To Get Oncotect
48:00 What Other Veterinarians Have Told Us
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Get to know Dr. Page Wages: www.dogcancer.com/people/page...
Get to know Oncotect CEO and founder Chan Namgong: www.dogcancer.com/people/chan...
For more details, articles, podcast episodes, and quality education, go to the episode page: www.dogcancer.com/podcast/ 
Животные
Can individual pet owners order the test directly from the company or do we have to go through a vet first?
You can order direct from the company on their website: oncotect.co
However, in order to register your dog, you will need to enter your veterinarian's information so that if the test results indicate cancer might be in play, they're in the loop.
Can this be used to check cancer spread/progress during treatment of it? Instead of doing something more costly like CT Scans etc.
That's how Dr. Wages uses it, as she mentions. It can be used as low-cost "quick check" to monitor progress, especially if you aren't able to afford imaging or want to cut down on veterinary visits. Keep in mind that it isn't a diagnostic, only a screening, but it's definitely better than not monitoring at all!
@@DogCancer thank you SO much for the quick reply! My boy has already been diagnosed with Oral Melanoma and it's been debulked. He has no illness symptoms and we are treating him with a full spectrum of immune support along with starting him on an Oncept treatment in the next week or 2. We almost did a costly full CT Scan that would've cost thousands, so I will definitely be contacting this company in regards to how approach the process of using this for checking on things periodically along with bringing this technology up to my local clinic.
Which screening test to do first: this Oncotect, NuQ or OncoK9?
That would depend upon many factors, including your budget and whether you want to do a blood draw or just catch pee at home. Ask your veterinarian and see what they think!
@@DogCancer my vet is dismissing my dog’s hard lump as a wart, so that’s not very helpful. The hard 0.5 mm lump has been there for 6 months now. What to do?
@@onlyinparadise4613the Oncotect, NuQ and OncoK9 tests are used to screen for cancer that isn't detectable, before a lump shows up, for example. At the point where you find a hard lump on your dog, you're not in the "early detection" stage, but more in the "let's find out what this thing that showed up is" stage.
Sometimes what looks like a wart is just that: a wart. But no one, no veterinarian or veterinary oncologist, can tell what a lump is just by looking. Especially hard lumps, and especially hard lumps that are "rooted" and don't move easily should be checked out. If your veterinarian isn't willing to do a fine needle aspirate or a biopsy to determine whether your dog has cancer or not, it might be time to find another veterinarian who will -- or an oncologist.
Here's our article that give a good overview of what diagnostics might look like: www.dogcancer.com/articles/diagnosis-and-medical-procedures/dog-cancer-diagnosis/
Best of luck to you and your dog.
@@DogCancer thank you!
Can this be used on humans?
It's only for dogs right now but they want to expand to cats and horses this year. There is a company in Japan that is using these worms to screen humans for cancer, but no test in the US as of now.
What 4 cancers do you look for?
Jim went back to that at the very end of his interview; we're sorry it missed you! Oncotect has data for the four most common dog cancers: lymphoma, hemangiosarcoma, melanoma, and mast cell tumors).
However, Dr. Wages pointed out that she has found other cancers as well with moderate and high risk test results. The exciting thing -- the thing we are cautiously optimistic about -- is that the worms are attracted to the waste metabolites from cancer cells that are generated by EVERY cancer type. So it is not surprising that other cancer types are also caught in the screening test.
Ceo Chan Namgong says in the interview that they are still collecting data to sample from other cancer types, and they will publish more results as they come in. Until then, the company isn't going to claim to pick up on all the cancer types when they only have official numbers for four.
Bottom line is that if your dog tests moderate or high risk, you should be ready to find any cancer type once you start running diagnostic tests.