Michel Jorquera has experienced the drama of cancer very closely and on several occasions. The men of his family carry a heavy inheritance: that of prostate tumors. “My uncles and my grandfather died of the disease and my father is fighting it,” explains this Chilean biochemical engineer, who two years ago left his position in the Investigative Police of his country and moved to Malaga to become an entrepreneur. “I had promised my father that one day I would dedicate myself fully to promoting the early detection of cancer that has affected my family so much,” confesses Jorquera, who affirms that he chose Malaga as a destination because of its dynamism as a “technological pole.”
With this idea already in mind, and after completing the Master’s Degree in Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Malaga, Jorquera focused his master’s thesis on the creation of Testeavida: a web platform from which any man in the age considered at risk (over 50 years, or 40 if there is a family history) may order an early detection kit for prostate cancer at home. This test, through a simple finger prick, measures in a few minutes if there is a high concentration of prostate antigen (PSA) in the blood, which can be a symptom of said disease. If the test is positive, the user can make an appointment through the same platform to have a confirmatory analysis done in a laboratory, as well as arrange a video consultation with a urologist who will ask them a series of questions and help them interpret the results and will recommend the steps to follow in the case of detecting a real risk. In this way, it is intended to overcome the rejection that the idea of visiting the urologist arouses in many men. But the CEO of Testeavida makes it clear that, ultimately, the diagnosis of a possible tumor has to come from a face-to-face visit to the specialist and a prostate biopsy.
The idea, as summarized by Jorquera, is “to integrate everything necessary for men to monitor the risk of prostate cancer from a single site”. »In our web platform the user receives information, guidance, ‘online’ medical care, appointments to clinical laboratories and, most importantly, receives it at his home, his office or where he deems, with the reserve and confidentiality that our clients demand of us. , the Testeavida PSA kit”, he explains. His objective, he qualifies, is not “to replace face-to-face medical care”, but to advance early detection; gain years from the disease in order to achieve more favorable prognoses.
Testeavida was one of the winning projects of the Spin-Off Awards of the University of Malaga 2022. Currently its founders are negotiating with investors and on the verge of formally establishing the company. «We already have the minimum viable product and the brand study, which we have assumed with our own capital. We are looking for financing for the commercial launch”, explains Jorquera, who as CEO of Testeavida and together with his partner Francisco Moreno (who is a software engineer and has the position of director of operations), leads a team of five people, including a doctor from the Hospital Virgen del Rocío in Seville that acts as ‘advisor’.
The ‘startup’ plans to reach agreements with insurers to include this service in the health policies of patients who have a certain risk profile. “Not only is it beneficial for patients, because the psychological barrier of going to the urologist is eliminated. Also for health companies, because if it is detected in its early stages, cancer treatment is more effective, less invasive, and has a lower cost, compared to late detection,” reflects Jorquera.
How does the test work?
The CEO of Testeavida explains that he learned about the system on which this rapid PSA test is based, immunofluorescence thin plate chromatography, because it was used in the forensic world. He has now ‘rescued’ it for a completely different use: to help diagnose early a disease that is usually silent until it is too late to eradicate it.
Prostate Specific Antigen, or PSA, is a protein produced by both normal cells and malignant (cancer) cells of the prostate. The prostate specific antigen test can detect elevated levels of prostate specific antigen, which could indicate the presence of prostate cancer. There are many other conditions, such as an enlarged or inflamed prostate, that can also increase PSA levels. Therefore, this indicator must be taken as an alarm signal, but not as irrefutable proof of the presence of a tumor.
In reality, there is no unanimity among the healthcare community in recommending this test. There are medical organizations (including the WHO) that advise periodic PSA analysis, together with digital rectal examination, for men over 50 years of age or younger if they have had cases of prostate cancer in their family. If abnormal results are obtained in these tests, the doctor will recommend a prostate biopsy, which is ultimately the only test that will serve to diagnose cancer.
