New Delhi:

Breast Cancer accounts for 13.6 percent of all cancer cases (male and female) in India, according to the 2022 World Cancer Report published by IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer). Amongst women, it goes up to 26 percent of all cancer cases. In the United States, breast cancer accounts for about 30% of all new cancer cases amongst women.

New Research shows Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help fight this menacing disease. Early and accurate diagnosis can be pivotal for treatment amongst patients, and a newly developed AI system promises to do so with near perfect diagnosis.

A research paper titled ” Ensemble Deep Learning-Based Image Classification for Breast Cancer Subtype and Invasiveness Diagnosis from Whole Slide Image Histopathology” published in the Cancers Journal last month, details out an AI Model that classifies and identifies different types of breast cancer present in a patient, in addition to ruling out malignancy (cancer) in the first place by identifying benign tumors.

The study – done by researchers of Northeastern University, Boston along with Maine Health Institute for Research – has developed an AI model that analyses high resolution histopathological (tissue-level microscopic) whole slide images of breast tumor tissue.

The AI system, which outperforms earlier machine learning (ML) models in the domain by combining the predictions of other ML models, is capable of identifying and classifying the tumor into malignant (cancerous) or benign (non-cancerous) using historical data fed to the model during training.

It was trained on publicly available datasets called BreakHis (Breast Cancer Histopathological Database) and BACH (Breast Cancer Histopathology images). For BACH, microscopic breast tissue images were meticulously labelled by medical experts, categorising the images into four classes – Normal, Benign, In Situ Carcinoma and Invasive Carcinoma.

And for BreakHis, which consists of 9,109 microscopic images of breast tumor tissue, it was used to categorise benign and malignant tumors further into 4 subclasses each- malignant tumors into Ductal carcinoma, Lobular carcinoma, Mucinous carcinoma and Papillary carcinoma, and benign tumors into Adenosi, Fibroadenoma, Phyllodes tumor, and Tubular adenoma.

Put together, the ensemble ML model has an accuracy of 99.84 percent. Such a performance metric during the research and development stage shows optimistic promise for the real-world application of the technology.

“The AI can’t miss a tumor in the biopsy and won’t be exhausted after diagnosing 10 or 20 people,” said Saeed Amal to Northeastern Global News. Amal is a professor of bioengineering at Northeastern university and is leading the ensemble model project.

Apart from diagnosis, AI systems have also made progress in prognosis and predictions related to breast cancers. For example, AI can now predict the neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) response of breast cancer using Hematoxylin and eosin (common stains in tissue imaging) images of pre-chemotherapy needle biopsies. The AI systems responsible for the same have an accuracy of 95.15 percent and have been detailed out in a paper titled “Development of multiple AI pipelines that predict neoadjuvant chemotherapy response of breast cancer using H&E-stained tissues,” published in May 2023 in the Journal of Pathology.

Apart from this, AI has also made significant progress in identifying lymph node metastasis (spreading of cancer cells through lymphatic nodes) and evaluation of hormonal status which is important for breast cancer treatment. These and many more advances made by AI interventions over the years in the fight against breast cancer have been stated in a review paper published in Diagnostic Pathology in February.

Twelve breast cancer genes identified in women of African ancestry in a large study published on Monday may one day help better predict their risk for the disease and highlights potential risk differences from women of European descent.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Twelve breast cancer genes identified in women of African ancestry in a large study published on Monday may one day help better predict their risk for the disease and highlights potential risk differences from women of European descent.

Studies to identify genetic mutations linked with breast cancer have previously mainly focused on women of European ancestry.

The new findings are drawn from more than 40,000 women of African ancestry in the United States, Africa and Barbados, including 18,034 with breast cancer.

Some of the mutations identified had not previously been linked with the disease, or were not as strongly linked as in this new analysis, indicating that genetic risk factors “may differ between females of African and European ancestry,” the researchers wrote in Nature Genetics.

One newly identified mutation in particular was linked with the disease with a strength “rarely observed” in the field of cancer genetics, the researchers said.

Certain other genes known to increase breast cancer risk in white women were not associated with the disease in this study, the report also noted.

Black women in the United States have higher rates of breast cancer before age 50, a higher incidence of harder-to-treat breast cancers, and a 42% higher breast cancer death rate than white women, according to the American Cancer Society.

Adding the newly identified genes to previously recognized breast cancer genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 that are linked with the disease in all populations, the researchers developed a breast cancer risk score for women of African ancestry that was significantly more accurate than currently available tools, they said.

Six of the abnormal genes were associated with an elevated risk for so-called triple-negative breast cancer, the most aggressive form of the disease. Black women have nearly a three-fold increased risk for this type of breast cancer compared to white women, previous research has shown.

Women in the study carrying all six genes were 4.2 times more likely to be diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer than those with none or only one of the variants, the study found.

The usefulness of the new variants needs to be further evaluated before testing for them becomes routinely available, said study leader Dr. Wei Zheng of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

The American Cancer Society says many genetic mutations previously identified as breast cancer risk factors in white women are also strongly linked with disease risk in Black women, and advises genetic testing for all patients regardless of race.

But U.S. Black women are less likely than white women to undergo breast cancer genetic testing, largely owing to differences in physician recommendations or access to care, the society notes.

A self-proclaimed “tumour research institute” in China is under investigation after a woman exposed how her cancer-stricken mother was duped into paying a staggering 200,000 yuan (approximately Rs 22.76 lakh) for treatments that include bloodletting and even applying cement to her skin.

According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), the woman, surnamed Wang, learned that her mother had been diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer at the end of 2021. Soon after diagnosis, the two women were introduced to a traditional Chinese medicine doctor in Wuhan, who claimed to specialise in treating cancer. They travelled to meet the man, surnamed Yu, at his Dongyusanbao Tumour Research Institute, where he told them he had invented a medicine that could kill cancer cells.

According to Ms Wang, Mr Yu went to great lengths to convince the two women, showcasing what appeared to be credible patent documents and prestigious awards certificates for his cancer treatment. 

Filled with hope, Ms Wang’s mother immediately purchased the first batch of liquid medication from Mr Yu at a cost of 20,000 yuan (US$2,700), which he assured was a simple oral remedy. Over the course of a year, Ms Wang said she and her mother flew to Wuhan from their home in northeastern Liaoning province six times. This journey took a severe financial toll, with the total expenditure racing over 200,000 yuan. 

Moreover, in addition to giving the elderly woman oral medication, Mr Yu also made dozens of injections into her breasts to make her lose blood, Ms Wang said, as per the outlet. He bizarrely also told the woman to apply a mixture of cement and lime skin under her armpits, claiming that it would aid in shrinking the cancerous lumps. 

“He told my mother to apply cement mixed with lime on the skin under her armpits, saying this could help shrink lumps. My mother followed his instructions but her skin festered after doing it for two months,” Ms Wang said.

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However, in April this year, Ms Wang’s mother’s condition deteriorated and local doctors told her that the cancer cells had spread across her body. But Mr Yu insisted that was normal and even told them not to worry. He even convinced the woman to continue drinking his medicine. However, this ultimately led to the mother’s death in June, Ms Wang said. 

According to SCMP, Mr Yu later confessed that neither he nor his institute have any medical qualifications. “I am not practising medicine. I just sold them health-enhancing products. My method of bloodletting is aimed at promoting good health, it is not acupuncture,” Mr Yu said. He also confessed that the certificates and documents he had shown the two women were, in fact, bought online for a few thousand yuan. The authorities are now still investigating the bizarre case.