Abstract P3-03-25: An Automated Risk Stratification System for Breast Cancer Screening using Thermalytix
Authors: Kakileti Siva Teja , Madhu Himanshu , Bansal Richa , Singh Akshita , Sampangi Sudhakar , Aggarwal Bharat , Manjunath Geetha 
Published: March 2023

Background: As opposed to conventional age-based population-level breast screening strategies, risk-stratified breast screening programs are emerging as a new approach to balanced population screening methodology where the screening frequency and choice of modality (mammography/tomosynthesis or magnetic resonance imaging) is determined based on accurate personalized estimation of an individual’s risk score. A woman identified with low risk can now be screened less frequently, avoiding repeated mammography screening where radiation risk outweighs the benefits in that particular individual. The standard questionnaire based risk stratification is found to be less reliable and imaging based risk stratification mechanisms are being explored in recent years. In this study, we evaluate the performance of a new computer-aided image analysis technique called Thermalytix that automatically generates a personalized risk score using a combination of imaging and questionnaire information for risk stratification of women.

Methodology: Thermalytix is an artificial intelligence system that uses thermal imaging and questionnaire data for predicting the risk of breast cancer. Thermalytix analyzes spatio-thermal signatures and vascular patterns in the breast region along with patients’ complaints and age to generate a score called B-Score (or BHARATI Score) which ranges from 1 to 5. B-Score of 1 indicates low risk of malignancy and a B-Score of 5 indicates the highest risk of malignancy. To evaluate the effectiveness of risk stratification using B-Scores, we performed retrospective analysis of thermal and participants’ data acquired from two registered clinical studies. One study (CTRI/2017/10/0 10 115) is a multi-site study conducted in Bangalore, India, and the other study (NCT04688086) is a single site study conducted in Delhi, India. Both these study sites are geographically distant with 2000 KM apart from each other and comprise a diversified population from India.

Results: In total, 717 eligible women were considered in this study with age varying from 18 years to 80 years. Reports from standard of care procedures involving mammography, ultrasound and biopsy (as needed), were collectively considered by a radiologist to determine the ground truth for malignancy. Out of 717 women, 85 women were thus concluded as malignant. When used in a blinded fashion, Thermalytix graded 275 women as B-Score 1 (lowest risk), 225 women as B-Score 2, 44 women as B-Score 3, 137 women as B-Score 4 and 36 women as B-Score 5 (highest risk). The fraction of malignancies in the cohorts corresponding to B-Score categories from 1 to 5 were found to be progressively higher (0.36%, 1.33%, 29.55%, 33.58% and 61.11%, respectively) - showing the correctness of the proposed personalized risk scoring methodology.

Conclusion: Thermalytix test, a low-cost, radiation-free, contactless and privacy aware test was used as a technique to determine the breast cancer risk of a woman.. The results obtained in the study show that a high B-score of 5 indicates a high risk for malignancy with 61.11% chance of breast cancer. Likewise the lowest B-Score of 1 indicates low risk for malignancy with just 0.36% percentage of women in the cohort found with malignancy. These results combined with other experiential benefits of Thermalytix test makes it a promising risk stratification mechanism enabling differential frequency of screening while balancing the cost and risk versus benefit. Large scale studies, however, need to be conducted to see the ground benefits of the proposed approach in a screening program implementation.

Distribution of study population in different risk cohorts Higher risk correlates with higher malignancy rate

Citation Format: Siva Teja Kakileti, Himanshu Madhu, Richa Bansal, Akshita Singh, Sudhakar Sampangi, Bharat Aggarwal, Geetha Manjunath. An Automated Risk Stratification System for Breast Cancer Screening using Thermalytix [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-03-25.