The Future of Screening Is Already in Your Blood

miCheckup is known today as a multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test — and that is what we sell. But cancer detection is the first application of a much broader platform.

The MMDS platform is built on a foundational biological fact: your blood contains circulating microRNAs released by every tissue and organ in your body. When disease develops — in any organ, of any kind — the microRNA pattern in your blood changes. These changes are detectable, measurable, and increasingly well-characterized by peer-reviewed research.

miRoncol Health's own published research has demonstrated that a small panel of circulating cell-free microRNAs can detect signals across multiple solid tumor cancers simultaneously with greater than 99% specificity and greater than 90% sensitivity for the majority of cancer types — validated on thousands of peer-reviewed blood samples.12

The same analytical approach — measuring circulating microRNA patterns and applying machine learning — is now being applied to cardiovascular disease, neurological conditions, metabolic disorders, and other disease domains by researchers around the world. The MMDS platform is designed to integrate these disease algorithms as the science matures, without changing the blood collection, processing, or laboratory infrastructure.

One blood draw. One platform. An expanding window into your health.

microRNAs (miRNAs) are molecules typically 19–25 nucleotides long that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. The mechanism is precise: a mature miRNA is loaded into a protein complex called RISC (RNA-Induced Silencing Complex), which then binds to target messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts and either degrades them or blocks their translation into protein.3

A single microRNA can regulate hundreds of different gene targets. A single gene can be regulated by multiple microRNAs. The human genome encodes over 1,000 microRNAs, and collectively they regulate an estimated 60% of all protein-coding genes — making miRNA one of the most powerful regulatory systems in human biology.

Every cell type — cardiac muscle, liver, neurons, tumour cells — produces a distinctive microRNA signature. These molecules are continuously released into the bloodstream, packaged in protective exosomes or bound to Argonaute 2 (AGO2) protein complexes. Research published in Nature has demonstrated that different cell types use specific sorting sequences that create a readable "miRNA code" linking circulating microRNAs to their tissue of origin.4

This is the biological foundation of the MMDS platform: your blood contains a molecular record of what is happening in every organ of your body. When disease develops anywhere — cancer, heart disease, neurodegeneration, metabolic dysfunction — the miRNA pattern changes. Those changes are detectable from a standard blood draw.

In September 2024, researchers from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Boston University, and Indiana University published landmark findings in Alzheimer's & Dementia: evaluating approximately 20 key microRNAs in blood can diagnose mild cognitive impairment and predict conversion from MCI to dementia due to Alzheimer's disease — potentially years before clinical symptoms manifest.9

The study of approximately 800 adults used machine learning to generate a molecular fingerprint from miRNA concentration patterns that identified people with Alzheimer's dementia and people at high risk. The researchers uncovered miRNA biomarkers that associate with amyloid, tau, and neurodegeneration (A/T/N) — the three hallmark biomarkers of Alzheimer's pathology.

A separate population-based study of 2,869 participants published in Alzheimer's & Dementia in October 2024 identified specific miRNAs (miR-134-5p, miR-409-3p, miR-370-3p, miR-493-3p) significantly associated with executive function, and others (miR-215-5p, miR-192-5p) associated with episodic verbal memory. Brain MRI and functional genomics confirmed these miRNAs relate to brain regions and biological pathways critical for cognitive function.10

For Parkinson's disease, a 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis in Scientific Reports assessed the diagnostic accuracy of biofluid miRNAs, confirming their potential as non-invasive biomarkers. A 2024 comprehensive review in npj Parkinson's Disease examined both diagnostic and therapeutic applications of miRNA regulation in Parkinson's.1112

For traumatic brain injury, a 2023 prospective cohort study published in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience demonstrated that plasma miR-423-3p levels measured within 6 hours of injury can discriminate mild TBI from healthy controls.13

The common thread: the same class of molecules — circulating microRNAs — can be measured from the same blood draw, on the same analytical platform, to assess risk across entirely different organ systems.

There are many classes of biomarkers in medicine — circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA), proteins, DNA methylation markers, metabolites. Each has its place. But microRNA has a unique combination of properties that makes it the strongest candidate for a multi-disease screening platform:

Extraordinary stability. Circulating miRNAs resist degradation by RNase enzymes, survive freeze-thaw cycles, and remain stable at room temperature for 24 hours. Specific miRNAs have been shown to remain measurable after 17 years of storage at -80°C. This stability means results are reliable even with routine clinical handling.15

Tissue specificity. Unlike many protein biomarkers, miRNA expression patterns are highly tissue-specific. miR-208 is essentially exclusive to cardiac tissue. miR-122 is liver-specific. miR-124 is brain-enriched. This allows a blood test to determine not just that disease is present, but where in the body it is occurring.

Disease breadth. ctDNA is cancer-specific. Most protein biomarkers detect a single condition. miRNA patterns change with every disease — cancer, cardiovascular, neurological, metabolic, liver, kidney. No other biomarker class offers this breadth from a single sample.

Early detection. miRNA changes occur at the molecular level — often months or years before a tumour is large enough to image, before cardiac damage produces detectable troponin, before cognitive decline is measurable on a clinical test. miRNA is a leading indicator, not a lagging one.

AI and machine learning compatibility. miRNA expression profiles produce numerical datasets that are ideally suited to machine learning classification. The same analytical infrastructure can run cancer algorithms, cardiac algorithms, and neurological algorithms on the same dataset — enabling true multi-disease screening from one blood draw.

Platform extensibility. The laboratory infrastructure for measuring circulating miRNAs — sample processing, RT-qPCR or sequencing, computational analysis — is the same regardless of disease target. Adding a new disease algorithm to the MMDS platform requires no change in how your blood is collected, processed, or analyzed. Only the software changes.