How CanAssist Breast Test Helps Patients Avoid Chemo
The CanAssist Breast test represents a pivotal milestone in personalized oncology care across India. Currently, between 90 and 95 percent of Indian patients with early-stage breast cancer receive systemic chemotherapy. However, many of these individuals harbor low-risk tumors that do not warrant cytotoxic intervention. Western prognostic assays often remain cost-prohibitive and lack validation in South Asian populations. Therefore, this indigenous artificial intelligence (AI)-driven prognostic assay bridges a critical diagnostic gap for treating oncologists.
How the CanAssist Breast Test Stratifies Recurrence Risk
Specifically, the test focuses on hormone receptor-positive (HR+) and HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer. Pathologists perform the assay on surgical tissue specimens following primary resection. First, the laboratory measures five protein biomarkers using validated immunohistochemistry protocols. In addition, the assay incorporates three standard clinical parameters: tumor size, histologic grade, and lymph node status. Consequently, an AI-powered machine learning algorithm analyzes these multidimensional inputs to identify complex non-linear biomarker interactions. The platform subsequently computes a precise recurrence score on a scale from 1 to 100.
Clinical Implications of the Recurrence Risk Score
Clinicians utilize the recurrence score to individualize adjuvant therapy protocols. For instance, a score below 15.5 indicates a low risk of distant cancer recurrence within five years of diagnosis. Therefore, oncologists can safely spare low-risk patients from toxic chemotherapy regimens. Instead, these women can achieve favorable outcomes through daily endocrine therapy tablets and targeted radiation therapy alone. Conversely, patients scoring above 15.5 present a high recurrence risk. Hence, aggressive systemic chemotherapy remains appropriate to prevent systemic relapse as part of advanced clinical oncology practices.
Expanding Accessibility Through In-House Pathology Kits
Currently, OncoStem Diagnostics conducts all testing at its central laboratory located in Bengaluru. In addition, Zydus Lifesciences actively markets and distributes the assay throughout India. However, transporting biological samples across regions can create unnecessary logistical delays. To overcome this hurdle, OncoStem developed an in-house kit-based version for hospital pathology departments. Furthermore, this diagnostic kit is undergoing formal review by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). Dr. Manjiri Bakre expects manufacturing licensing approval in the near future. As a result, decentralized testing will soon accelerate clinical decision-making across tertiary cancer centers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: What specific patient population qualifies for the CanAssist Breast test?
The assay is designed specifically for early-stage breast cancer patients presenting with hormone receptor-positive and HER2-negative invasive disease.
Q2: How does the test determine low-risk versus high-risk recurrence?
The AI algorithm integrates five protein biomarkers with tumor size, grade, and nodal status to calculate a score from 1 to 100, where a score below 15.5 indicates low risk.
Q3: How will the upcoming CDSCO-reviewed kit improve clinical workflows?
The kit will enable hospital-based pathology laboratories to run the prognostic test internally, thereby eliminating sample shipping delays to the central facility.
References
- Indian AI-based test helps identify early-stage breast cancer patients who mayavoid chemotherapy - ETHealthworld
- Analytical validation of CanAssist-Breast: an immunohistochemistry based prognostic test for hormone receptor positive breast cancer patients - PubMed
- About CanAssist Breast: Recurrence Risk Score and Algorithmic Validation - OncoStem Diagnostics
