SpotitEarly Breath Test Uses AI And Dogs For Early Cancer Detection

Forbes

01-07-2025

SpotitEarly CEO Shlomi Madar with his late grandfather
The next breakthrough in cancer screening is emerging from the convergence of artificial intelligence and canine biology.
That's the thesis behind SpotitEarly, a startup that recently launched in the U.S. with $20 million in funding. The company's hybrid platform combines trained dogs with artificial intelligence to deliver an early cancer detection breath test with 94% accuracy, targeting breast, colorectal, prostate and lung cancers.
More than 70% of cancers are still diagnosed after symptoms appear—when survival rates plummet. In the U.S., the average cancer screening rate among eligible adults remains below 60%, despite massive investments in awareness and infrastructure. And while diagnostics innovation has exploded, access has not. Many tools are either cost-prohibitive, unproven, or designed for a healthcare experience that caters to the few.
In an era where longevity startups cater to the 1% with concierge diagnostics and $2,500 full-body scans, SpotitEarly is flipping the script. Its goal: to bring cutting-edge early detection to the millions who never make it to screening in time—not just those with the means to optimize wellness.
SpotitEarly are beagles trained to detect cancer.
SpotitEarly is poised to shake up a diagnostics market plagued by high costs, access disparities and screening inertia—with a scientifically validated, double-blind clinical trial to back it.
'After years in cancer care, I've seen firsthand how late diagnoses steal lives. SpotitEarly is changing that. By combining AI with a dog's powerful sense of smell, they're making early detection for multiple cancers faster, more accessible, and more affordable than anything I've seen in the field. This is a true breakthrough—and a chance to save lives at scale,' said Dr. David Sidransky, Professor of Oncology at Johns Hopkins Medical School and current advisory board member at SpotitEarly.
Revolutionizing Non-Invasive Cancer Screening With Dogs And AI
SpotitEarly enables users to collect a breath sample at home and mail it to the company's lab. There, trained beagles detect cancer-linked volatile organic compounds (VOCs), while the company's LUCID platform digitizes the dogs' behavioral data and uses AI to interpret the results.
The company's approach was tested in a double-blind clinical trial involving 1,400 participants in Israel, conducted in collaboration with Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Rambam Health Care Campus and Hadassah Medical Center. Neither the dog trainers, sample handlers, AI system operators, nor analysts knew whether the samples came from individuals with cancer or healthy controls. All samples were randomized, anonymized and processed independently to ensure clean, unbiased results.
The study achieved 94% sensitivity and specificity across four major cancers—breast, colorectal, prostate and lung—and the results were published in Scientific Reports in November 2024.
SpotitEarly Founder and CEO Shlomi Madar
'This wasn't an anecdotal pilot,' said CEO Shlomi Madar, PhD. 'We conducted a rigorous, double-blind, multi-site trial with academic partners to validate our platform scientifically. That level of proof is what makes us different from the many promising but unproven efforts in this space.'
In the end, SpotitEarly isn't just about better diagnostics—it's about giving families more time together.
Why Can Dogs Detect Cancer Better Than Machines Alone?
Dogs have up to 300 million olfactory receptors—tens of thousands more than humans. They can detect scent at concentrations as low as parts per trillion, which is why they've long been used to find explosives, contraband and even viral infections. Decades of studies have shown that dogs can identify the presence of cancer by smell, often before clinical symptoms appear.
SpotitEarly is among the first to pair that natural ability with digital infrastructure and machine learning. Each canine's sniffing behavior is tracked by sensors and algorithms that quantify subtle physiological cues, such as sniff duration, hesitation or posture. These data streams power the company's proprietary LUCID platform, which converts biological inputs into a structured diagnostic signal.
SpotitEarly estimates that one canine-AI lab can process over one million samples annually, with turnaround times of just a few days.
A Mission Rooted In Personal Loss And Innovation
What began as a search for better diagnostics became his introduction to a company grounded in biology, technology and accessibility.
For Shlomi Madar, PhD, the pursuit of earlier cancer detection is deeply personal. He lost his grandfather to cancer, a diagnosis that came only after symptoms had already advanced. By then, treatment options were limited, and time was short.
SpotitEarly CEO Dr. Shlomi Madar with his late grandparents
Losing him at a relatively young age was devastating for Shlomi's family – but ultimately sparked his passion for cancer research.
Learning of their shared vision to leverage their unique skills in a groundbreaking venture for the greater good, Shlomi joined the 4 founders of SpotitEarly, whose team discovered the untapped potential of canine scent detection—and the power of pairing it with machine learning to create a scalable, noninvasive diagnostic platform.
Their mission was to make early detection accessible to everyone, not just the fortunate few.
SpotitEarly plans to make its at-home cancer detection test available directly to customers through a physician network starting in 2026. A single-cancer test will cost about $250, while a comprehensive panel for all four cancers will cost around $500. No clinic visit or specialist referral is required.
The company will continue to partner with health systems and research institutions to enhance accessibility and validate its technology. If a breath test detects potential cancer biomarkers, users will receive clear, secure results along with guidance on what to do next. Results can be easily shared with a physician, who can then recommend diagnostic follow-ups and a personalized care plan.
The product is not yet covered by insurance, though the company is in active conversations with payers. Even without reimbursement, SpotitEarly's pricing undercuts most early detection tools. It's positioned as a low-barrier, high-sensitivity option, particularly attractive for younger or underserved patients who may not qualify for traditional screenings.
The at-home format eliminates friction. Users receive a kit, provide a breath sample in minutes and return it by mail. Results will be delivered within days.
The early detection market is growing rapidly, with players like Grail's Galleri offering liquid biopsies and startups like Prenuvo providing full-body MRI scans. But these approaches are often expensive, inaccessible, or both.
Prenuvo's scans cost between $1,000 and $2,500 (and up to $4,000 in premium markets), and they are typically not covered by insurance. Appointments require travel to specialized imaging centers and can take over an hour to complete. While comprehensive, the model primarily caters to the 1%—those investing in concierge diagnostics and longevity-focused wellness, rather than scalable population health tools.
SpotitEarly offers a more targeted and affordable solution. Its test is:
It also avoids one of the most cited concerns about full-body scans: overdiagnosis. These scans can detect benign anomalies that trigger unnecessary follow-ups and patient anxiety. SpotitEarly's method focuses on cancers with the most robust breath-based biomarkers and the clearest public health benefits when detected early.
As Madar noted in a recent interview, 'Prenuvo costs patients around $2,500. Most Americans can't cover a $1,000 emergency expense.' SpotitEarly is betting that affordability, not abundance, is the future of early detection.
The company has raised $20.3 million to date from backers including Hanaco Ventures, Jeff Swartz (former CEO of Timberland), and Avishai Abrahami (cofounder of Wix). Funds are being used to scale U.S. operations, conduct further validation studies and prepare for commercial rollout in 2026.
SpotitEarly's use of dogs and data may seem unconventional—even a little unexpected—but the implications are anything but light. The company is tackling one of the most persistent failures in healthcare: the gap between innovation and access.
Despite decades of investment in awareness and infrastructure, over 70% of cancers are still diagnosed after symptoms appear—when outcomes are far worse. In the U.S., fewer than 60% of eligible adults get the screenings they need. Meanwhile, diagnostics innovation has surged, but too often it's priced for exclusivity, not equity.
Where companies like Prenuvo serve the 1% with concierge scans and longevity optimization, SpotitEarly is building for the other 99%—those for whom early detection is not just a wellness upgrade, but a matter of survival. Its breath-based platform offers a rare blend of scientific rigor, scalability, and affordability.
If the model holds, SpotitEarly won't just catch cancer earlier—it could reshape how health systems approach prevention, precision, and who innovation is actually designed for.
In a healthcare landscape where flashy technology often outpaces clinical validation, SpotitEarly flips the script—starting with biology, validating it with science, and scaling it through tech.
SpotitEarly's use of dogs and data may seem unconventional—even a little unexpected—but the implications are anything but light. The company is tackling one of the most persistent failures in healthcare: the gap between innovation and access.
Despite decades of investment in awareness and infrastructure, over 70% of cancers are still diagnosed after symptoms appear, when outcomes are far worse. In the U.S., fewer than 60% of eligible adults get the screenings they need. Meanwhile, diagnostics innovation has surged, but too often it's priced for exclusivity, not equity.
Where companies like Prenuvo serve the 1% with concierge scans and longevity optimization, SpotitEarly is building for the other 99%—those for whom early detection is not just a wellness upgrade, but a matter of survival. Its breath-based platform offers a rare blend of scientific rigor, scalability, and affordability.
Read more in Forbes about how AI Is Catching What Mammograms Miss and a Blood Test Could Detect Cancer Up To Seven Years Earlier