Personalized Cancer Screening: Purpose and Goals (Part 1)

Why built a platform for personalized Cancer Screening Planning?

For many cancer types they quietly develop where initial symptoms are often unclear to distinguish and easily overlooked. Often, patients live several months with those symptoms before getting it checked. However, the best prognosis and treatability of cancer is in the very early stages of it, even before symptoms arise. Sadly, also our experience working with cancer patients showed a common trend – late-stage diagnosis.

We aim to change that by enhancing prognosis and encouraging more people to undergo relevant screenings. Here are some key insights:

• 67% of women and 40% of men in Germany go regularly to do their screenings [1]
• Early-detection of cancer leads to better treatment outcomes and survival rates [2]
• Cancer screening is especially important for people at high risk for cancer, such as those with a family history of cancer or certain lifestyle risk factors [3]

However, we recognize the barriers: scheduling appointments, finding time, costs of screenings and the fear of potential findings. Our program is designed to overcome these obstacles.

Personalized medicine is at the heart of our project. Recent advancements in medical science have provided insights into the causes of cancer. With that knowledge, Screenings can be tailored to each patient's unique characteristics.

The Public Health Insurances in Germany covers a screening selection which is based on only two factors: age and gender. [4] Yet, we have enough knowledge that can enable early detection and prevention for specific patient groups.

So, what's our strategy for achieving higher rates for screening and early detections?

We believe the answer lies in a fusion of medical algorithms and personal patient interactions:

1. Identifying varying levels of cancer risk
2. Confirming algorithmic decisions and providing patient assessments via physicians for those at elevated risk
3. Planning, monitoring, and informing patients comprehensively
4. Offering specialized physician support for any findings

At the core of this program is our software platform, the Cancer Health Monitor.

Stay tuned for our next post in this series, where we'll delve into how early detection can significantly improve disease prognosis.

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Sources:

[1] Bericht zum Krebsgeschehen in Deutschland; Robert Koch Institut (2016)

[2] The National Polyp Study. Design, methods, and characteristics of patients with newly diagnosed polyps. The National Polyp Study Workgroup; Winawer SJ et al. (1992)

[3] The National Lung Screening Trial: overview and study design; National Lung Screening Trial Research Team (2011)

[4] Richtlinie des Gemeinsamen Bundesausschusses über die Früherkennung von Krebserkrankungen (2020)