A new AI tool called DeepHRD can quickly and cheaply find important genetic changes in tumor biopsy slides. This tool was created by engineers and medical researchers at the University of California San Diego. Their study about DeepHRD was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
DeepHRD is designed to save time and money in treating breast and ovarian cancers. It helps doctors decide on the best treatment faster, reducing delays that can be life-threatening. Normally, patients wait weeks for genomic tests, but DeepHRD can give results right after a tissue biopsy, which is the usual first step in cancer diagnosis.
The team behind DeepHRD includes experts from various departments at UC San Diego. They aimed to create a tool that works with the minimal information available early in diagnosis, using AI to analyze tissue slides and identify cancer markers.
DeepHRD focuses on a marker called homologous recombination deficiency (HRD). Patients with HRD often respond well to certain chemotherapies. The AI tool can identify HRD accurately and quickly, allowing doctors to start treatment immediately. This is a big improvement over current genomic tests, which can fail 20-30% of the time and require retesting.
The new technology is expected to make precision cancer treatment more accessible and affordable, especially in areas with limited resources. The AI tool is protected by patents and licensed to a company aiming to bring it to clinical use soon. The researchers hope this technology can also be applied to other types of cancer and genetic markers.
Source: medicalxpress
