A Japanese biotech firm says it has developed the world's first early screening test for pancreatic cancer, using the powerful noses of tiny worms.

Hirotsu Bio Science this month launched its N-NOSE plus Pancreas test, marketing directly to consumers in Japan and with aims to bring the test to the United States by 2023.

Users send a urine sample through a special mail pouch to a lab, where it is put in a petri dish with a species of nematodes. The creatures, known scientifically as C. elegans, have olfactory senses much more powerful than dogs, the company says, and they follow their nose toward cancer cells.