A saliva test to detect endometriosis soon available?

A test to reduce the diagnostic wandering experienced by many women with endometriosis. This is the promise of the biotechnology company Ziwig, whose test it was named Endotest “showed very good diagnostic performance”, according to the High Health Authority. This saliva device is judged “promising” by the HAS which is however awaiting new data before a possible generalized reimbursement.

Asked by France BlueHervé Fernandez, gynecological surgeon and professor emeritus at Paris Saclay University, believes that“There is no more precise technique than this test ” Nowadays.

7 years on average before getting a diagnosis

Although endometriosis affects approximately one in ten women, this chronic disease is diagnosed with an average delay of seven years. The Ziwig test would therefore significantly reduce these delays, with a result within a matter of days. “A revolution”, welcomes the founder of the start-up, Yahya El Mir.

Questioned by AFP, he explains in detail how it works: “It involves taking a bit of saliva, which contains micro-RNA “. Why endometriosis “It is not a purely gynecological disease “. Salivary sampling therefore allows “get as close as possible to the biological functioning of cells and produce information that cannot be obtained through imaging or surgery and which allows a reliable biological diagnosis to be made », Says Yahya El Mir. The test therefore involves performing high-throughput sequencing and using an algorithm designed by artificial intelligence.

A conditional refund

A year earlier, Inserm (National Institute of Health and Medical Research) had been cautious about the results of an initial study carried out on 200 patients. On Monday 8 January, the High Health Authority issued its opinion based on the extension of this same study to more than 1,000 women suffering from pelvic pain. His assessment highlighted a Diagnostic accuracy of 95%. for this test, which you describe as “promising” AND “innovative”.

If he recognizes “high expectations” patients for this test, the HAS points out “the need to conduct further studies aimed at evaluating its clinical utility in current practice”. As a result, it initially offers early access, via a package known as “innovation”.

Concretely, if the government follows the advice of the HAS, women over the age of 18, for whom endometriosis is “strongly suspected”, they will be able to take this test for free. But this support will be “conditioned” participation in new studies, which will allow a decision to be made in favor of general reimbursement or not.

According to France Bleu, “The Endotest has been sold for more than a year in about ten countries in Europe and the Middle East. In Switzerland, for example, it is sold for around 800 euros.” While this progress represents real hope for patients, the question remains of how to improve post-diagnostic patient care. To date, there is no definitive cure for endometriosis.

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