Indian Startup Develops AI-based Blood Test to Detect 32 Cancers Early Stages
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Even as early detection of cancer remains critical, Gurugram-based firm PredOmix has developed a revolutionary blood test that can detect about 32 malignancies in both men and women with 98% accuracy.
OncoVeryx-F is a patented technology developed by the firm that combines metabolomics (the study of tiny molecules) with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to discover metabolite signatures of numerous malignancies in a single test.
“Metabolomics is an especially well-suited technique for cancer detection because metabolic reprogramming is one of the hallmarks of cancer cells.” “By using appropriate big data algorithms, cancer metabolite signatures can be accurately extracted from the serum metabolome,” Dr. Kanury V.S. Rao, Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), PredOmix, told IANS.
The breast, endometrial, cervix, and ovarian cancers were diagnosed in a single blood test when the test was initially introduced in 2022. The business has now expanded it to 32 tumors in men and women that are notoriously difficult to diagnose otherwise.
Pancreatic cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, brain cancer, and sarcomas are examples. In addition, the malignancies that kill the most people in India are covered, including breast cancer, cervical cancer, stomach cancer, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, oral cancer, and prostate cancer.
According to the business, OncoVeryx-F also aids in diagnosing the presence or absence of cancer, as well as the tissue of origin or cancer type.
“The creation of this test will have a big effect on how many people die from cancer, especially in cases where finding the disease early could make care much more effective. Rao said, “This test will help doctors find cancer early, which will lead to better treatment plans and a higher chance of survival.”
“Cancer needs to be dealt with right away because it is the leading cause of early deaths around the world. Early detection is still the best way to reduce cancer-related deaths,” he said, adding that present screening methods can only find a small number of cancers.
For example, the accuracy of mammograms for screening for breast cancer is between 80% and 95%, but the accuracy of the pap test or colonoscopy for screening for cervical and colorectal cancer is only about 70%.
“Also, each of these ways to check for cancer is meant to find a different kind of cancer. Even though some symptoms only show up in the later stages of the disease, they are still used to diagnose the other types of cancer. We know that better screening methods are needed and are happy to say that we are expanding our current cancer screening test to include 32 types of cancer for both men and women, including some that are hard to find in India, Rao told IANS.
To see how well their technology worked, they did a field study with blood samples from more than 4,000 people in different parts of India.
The company said that the results were “excellent” and that the average frequency of detection was 98%. It has now sent a provisional foreign patent application to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
The business has also started clinical trials in India with more than 10,000 people to confirm the results.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation has given the company a license for their software “as a medical device” for now.
“Right now, this is a lab-made test, but in a few months we will finish a clinical trial that has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), and we hope to get DGCI approval soon,” the company said.
The price of the test for cancers that only affect women is Rs 12,000, the company said, adding that the price for the 32 cancers that only affect men will be different because the test “is still being made and will be available later this year.”
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