The preliminary results of a research collaboration between JelloX Biotech - a Taiwan-based startup at the forefront of cancer pathology – and the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) on breast cancer patients show’s that 3d pathology technology leads to more precise treatment for breast cancer patients.
The project found that JelloX's 3D pathology technology identified a significantly increased proportion of tumours with HER2-low and HER2-ultralow expression compared to conventional methods, demonstrating this technology's increased sensitivity and potential as a diagnostic tool for HER2 detection in breast cancers.
Illustrated above is a 3D fluorescent-stained image of mammary ducts from a breast cancer patient. Green areas indicate drug-targeted receptors. Unlike traditional 2D pathology, this reveals the spatial distribution of receptors, reducing the risk of misjudging treatment decisions.
The difficulty of precisely determining treatment for breast cancer has made the identification of HER2 expression essential. In HER2-low and HER2-ultralow metastatic breast cancer, the novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) has demonstrated robust efficacy over conventional chemotherapy. Yet considering HER2 spatial heterogeneity, traditional diagnostic methods have shown to be less precise than 3D pathology in detecting the presence of the HER2 protein.
"For the specific challenges posed by metastatic breast cancer and the need to identify predictive biomarkers accurately, the high sampling capacity of 3D pathology holds particular potential," commented Dr Yen-Yin Lin, CEO of JelloX. "JelloX Biotech's comprehensive HER2 diagnostic solution is poised to revolutionise HER2 diagnostics. With a more comprehensive data set on tumour samples, healthcare providers can be empowered to make more precise diagnoses, ensuring that the right patients receive the right treatment at the right time."
In JelloX's research collaboration with NTUH, preliminary findings indicate that more than half of the analysed cases exhibited diagnostic discrepancies when re-evaluated using the company's advanced 3D pathology methods. Notably, among patients initially classified as HER2-null by traditional methods, more than 66.7% were reclassified as HER2-expressing (HER2-low or HER2-ultralow) using 3D technology, thereby becoming potentially eligible for T-DXd treatment.
These findings echo the company's recent results using samples from colorectal and esophageal cancers, demonstrating that 3D pathology may have broader potential across various cancer types.
The full findings will be shared at the Global Breast Cancer Conference in South Korea - https://gbcc.kr/Main.asp.
Based in Hsinchu, Taiwan, JelloX Biotech Inc. is a startup that focuses on advancing cancer pathology through 3D digital imaging and AI technology. For more information, please visit: https://jellox.com/en/home/.