Surgeons and gastroenterologists from NHO Osaka National Hospital and Kitano Hospital joined Craif's Chief Operating Officer to make the case for earlier detection, in a region where cancer screening participation lags.
OSAKA, September 8, 2026 - Craif Inc., a bio-AI company developing a urine analysis platform for early detection of cancer and other diseases, co-hosted a two-day public education program with Sato Internal Medicine Clinic on July 11 and 12, 2026, at Congres Square Grand Green Osaka. The program, titled "The Front Line of Cancer Control," brought together gastrointestinal cancer specialists from two of Osaka's major hospitals alongside Craif's Chief Operating Officer, Mika Mizunuma.
For Craif, the event is part of a broader effort to build working relationships with the gastroenterologists and colorectal surgeons who see patients at the point where earlier detection matters most. The company runs this work in Japan today. The clinical questions raised there, how to find colorectal cancer before symptoms appear and how to catch pancreatic cancer while it is still small, are the same ones facing physicians in the United States.
Dr. Yuichi Hara, Director General of Grand Green Osaka Internal Medicine and Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Clinic (the Osaka Station branch of Sato Internal Medicine Clinic), moderated the program. Speakers were:
- Dr. Takeshi Kato, Director of Cancer Treatment at the Cancer Center and Chief of Lower Gastrointestinal Surgery, National Hospital Organization Osaka National Hospital.
- Dr. Shujiro Yazumi, Chief of the Department of Gastroenterology, Tazuke Kofukai Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital.
- Mika Mizunuma, Chief Operating Officer, Craif Inc.
Colorectal cancer
Dr. Kato opened the event by speaking about the scale of the problem. "One in two Japanese people, and two in three men, will develop cancer in their lifetime," he said.
He described the usual course of the disease, from polyp to early cancer to advanced cancer, and noted that symptoms typically do not appear until the disease is well advanced. "While a patient is telling themselves it is just the usual thing, the cancer can be quietly progressing," he added.
His central point was that the window for cure is early. "You cannot prevent colorectal cancer. That is exactly why treating it before it becomes cancer matters." At the pre-malignant polyp stage or the early cancer stage, he said, the disease can be treated endoscopically.
Pancreatic cancer
Dr. Yazumi said screening participation across the Kansai region, including Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo, is low, and that his first request of the audience was simply to take the cancer screening that local government already offers.
He singled out diabetes as the risk factor he most wants patients and physicians to watch. Anyone who develops diabetes suddenly in adulthood, or whose previously stable diabetes deteriorates sharply, should undergo imaging, he said. He also described the referral pathway between the two institutions: abdominal ultrasound at Sato Internal Medicine Clinic, with CT or MRI at Kitano Hospital when a closer look is warranted.
What Craif presented
Mizunuma set out the company's position. "If it is found early, cancer is not a frightening disease. Making early detection and early treatment of cancer the norm is the mission we at Craif have set ourselves," she said.
She described miSignal Scan as a test that evaluates risk across ten cancer types, including colorectal and pancreatic cancer, from a urine sample alone, with a separate risk result for each type.
The case Craif makes
Craif's event materials set out the gap the company is working against. In Japan, roughly one person in two will be diagnosed with cancer, yet national cancer screening participation sits at about 40 percent. Pancreatic cancer is the hardest case: five-year survival is about 8 percent, and in 2023 it passed stomach cancer to become the third most common cause of cancer death in Japan. Because early pancreatic cancer produces few symptoms and little change in tumor markers, it is very difficult to catch with conventional testing. Published Japanese registry data indicate that when the tumor is found at 1 cm or smaller, five-year survival can exceed 80 percent.
About miSignal Scan
miSignal Scan extracts microRNA from urine and analyzes it with AI to assess risk across ten cancer types, including pancreatic cancer, reporting risk by cancer type from stage 1. The test requires only a urine sample. Ovarian and breast cancer are assessed in women only, and prostate cancer in men only.
miSignal Scan is not a medical device. It determines risk through statistical calculations based on the information analyzed. It is not a substitute for a medical diagnosis of whether a person has cancer, and a low-risk result does not mean that cancer is absent or that a person will not develop cancer in the future.
About Craif
Craif is a bio-AI company founded in 2018 that develops non-invasive tests for the early detection of cancer. Its platform combines proprietary biomarker detection from urine and other bodily fluids with AI to assess disease risk. Building on one of the world's largest urine datasets, Craif aims to create a urine analysis platform that detects a wide range of diseases early, with cancer as the first step. The company is based in Tokyo and operates a wholly owned laboratory in San Diego, opened in 2026. Learn more at craif.com.
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