ICMR-Funded GITAM Research Aims to Detect Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Via Blood Test

Key facts

• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has funded a project led by Rama Rao Malla, professor in the Department of Life Sciences at GITAM (Deemed to be University), Visakhapatnam, to develop a blood test for early detection of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
• The project, titled 'Exploring Serum Exosomal microRNAs as Minimally-Invasive Biomarkers for Early Diagnosis of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer', is sanctioned under ICMR's 'Follow-on Nischayak Anveshan' Extramural Grants programme with an outlay of over ₹2 crore over three years.
• TNBC lacks receptors for oestrogen, progesterone and HER2, accounts for 10% to 15% of breast cancers, is increasingly diagnosed in women in their mid-30s and 40s, and is treated mainly with chemotherapy to which many patients develop resistance.
• The study will analyse exosomes, nanosized vesicles released by cells including tumour cells, comparing serum samples from early-stage TNBC patients supplied by Mahatma Gandhi Cancer Hospital & Research Institute (MGCHRI) and GITAM Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (GIMSR) with samples from healthy women.
• Sequencing and digital PCR will identify candidate microRNAs, and a machine-learning model will be trained to distinguish early-stage TNBC patients from healthy individuals, with the goal of developing a kit-based test.
• Co-investigators include P. Kiranmayi, P. Vasudevaraju, A. Krishna Chaitanya and M. Srivenkatesh of GITAM School of Science, K. Viswa Kalyan of GIMSR, and V. Muralikrishna of MGCHRI.