Patients and doctors are eager for a noninvasive way to diagnose endometriosis, and several start-ups are offering new options, as The New York Times recently reported. Katherine (Katie) Burns, PhD, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and director of the Division of Environmental Genetics and Molecular Toxicology within the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, weighed in on what to know about these options.

On average, it takes seven to nine years to receive an endometriosis diagnosis. Many patients need surgery to confirm the diagnosis because imaging doesn't reliably detect it. Endometriosis, in which tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus, is estimated to affect at least one in 10 reproductive-age women.

For many, a reliable, noninvasive test feels like the holy grail. Now, several start-ups claim to have found it, offering to diagnose endometriosis by analyzing RNA molecules in saliva, proteins in blood or electrical signals in the gastrointestinal tract. Each test is backed by at least one peer-reviewed study, either conducted or funded by its manufacturer.

So far, experts, including Burns, have said the evidence for these new tests is limited to small studies of patients who may not be broadly representative.

"But one of the things that I've learned along the way is, you have to ask questions," she said. Burns herself was diagnosed with endometriosis after 10 years of suffering.

The Food and Drug Administration has not approved any noninvasive endometriosis test. However, several companies are offering products "for research purposes only" or through a regulatory loophole the FDA has sought to close.

Read the full article in The New York Times, including what the evidence shows for each test.

Featured image at top: iStock/champpixs.

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