Prenuvo reveals early findings from elective whole-body MRI clinical trial

Prenuvo on Thursday revealed early findings from its recently launched clinical trial to explore the benefits of elective whole-body MRIs. 

The Redwood City, California-based radiology group first initiated Project Hercules in June 2024, seeking to enroll 100,000 adults in the study. Led by Chief Radiologist Yosef “Sefi” Chodakiewitz, MD, the trial is expected to last 10 years and is being run out of the Hercules Research Center in Watertown, Massachusetts. 

In its update, Prenuvo said it has now enrolled over 1,011 “mostly asymptomatic” individuals who underwent whole-body MRIs as part of its related “real world” Polaris study. Of those, about 2.2% have been diagnosed with biopsy-confirmed cancers, “including types often missed” with screening tests. These have included cancers of the kidney, bladder and ovaries, with most detected early in the disease process, “when treatment is more effective.”

“The Polaris findings represent a highly promising early milestone towards validating an imaging-based multi-cancer detection strategy using Prenuvo’s whole-body MRI screening,” Chodakiewitz, medical director of primary care radiology at Prenuvo, said in a statement May 29. “We are enabling screening-based detection of cancers that traditional single-cancer screening methods often overlook—allowing for earlier detection and targeted management at stages when treatment can be far more effective.”

Chodakiewitz and colleagues presented the early results as part of the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting, held in Chicago last month. Researchers conducted the Polaris study at a single clinic in Canada and are now executing follow-up research to evaluate their findings across a broader, more diverse population. 

Prenuvo noted that 99.8% of patients with a clear scan remained cancer-free for at least a year. In cases that led to biopsies, about half were later confirmed to have cancer. The company also pinpointed other conditions such as aneurysms, noncancerous brain masses and metabolic disorders. Prenuvo emphasized that its scans are intended to “complement, not replace” any existing screening methods. A small number of cancers not detected within the study, fewer than 0.2%, were of the breast, with the company continuing to recommend regular mammograms among eligible women. 

As part of the Hercules Project, researchers are piloting new risk stratifying reporting systems to help radiologists interpret results more clearly. These include “identifying findings that require action and monitoring those that do not,” Prenuvo noted. One example is ONCO-RADS for assessing cancer risk and a new Clinically Significant Diagnoses system for evaluating the clinical importance of other conditions. 

“The Polaris study continues as part of this effort and will expand as researchers gather more data through Hercules,” Prenuvo noted. 

Co-founded by radiologist Raj Attariwala, MD, PhD, in 2018, Prenuvo offers a comprehensive, $2,499 health assessment for individuals seeking to root out cancer and other concerns before they become symptomatic. The company now has 24 locations with more on the way in the U.S. and worldwide. Prenuvo has raised $120 million in funding from celebrities such as model Cindy Crawford, along with former 23AndMe CEO Anne Wojcicki, Nest founder Tony Fadell, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and billionaire scientist Timothy A. Springer, PhD.

The care model has drawn criticism for its high cost and lack of clinical data, which prompted the study’s launch last year. Currently, The American College of Radiology does not support asymptomatic whole-body imaging, noting  there is no documented evidence it is cost-efficient or prolongs life.