Dxcover Brain Test & Panaromic Platform

Problem

Early signs of brain tumours can be subtle and mistaken for conditions including migraine, fatigue, and stress. Patients often make repeat visits to their GP over a number of months with worsening symptoms, until over two thirds are diagnosed in A&E. Around one third come through routine referral pathways, often after long waiting times.

Diagnosing brain tumours in primary care is tough – symptoms are often non-specific and may not seem urgent or high-risk. Deciding who needs further investigation and who doesn’t is challenging.

The UK’s Urgent Suspected CNS Cancer Pathway shows that additional tools are needed to support and inform referral decision-making; reports have indicated that fewer than 2% of patients in that pathway have a brain tumour, whereas over 65% are currently diagnosed in an emergency setting.

These diagnostic delays impact brain cancer patient quality of life and survival. Earlier diagnosis (at a simple level: when tumours are smaller) has been associated with reduced morbidity, reduced healthcare resource utilisation, and a mortality benefit.

The Dxcover liquid biopsy enables earlier and faster diagnosis of brain tumours.

Solution

The Dxcover Brain Liquid Biopsy analyses serum from a standard blood draw using infrared light and an AI algorithm. Serum is dropped onto a Dxcover test slide which is then dried before being placed into an infrared spectrometer to detect cancer (Drop, Dry, Detect®).

Infrared light causes the molecules to vibrate, which generates an infrared spectrum of the sample. An AI algorithm then assesses the spectrum to predict whether it is cancerous or not. The process takes around 15 minutes. A positive or negative result is subsequently issued.

Dxcover’s validated blood-based test has demonstrated a 99.3% negative predictive value (NPV) and can offer a one-day turnaround, which will enable GPs to provide vastly earlier reassurance to symptomatic patients, inform referral into imaging, and make earlier diagnosis a reality in an area where there is much unmet need.

The test is aligned with the national strategic context and would support, not replace, existing clinical assessment to rapidly triage symptomatic patients to prioritise for imaging.

Impact

A real-world evidence database study was done with Professor Paul Brennan’s unit in Edinburgh. The study speaks to the value of earlier diagnosis, using tumour size as a proxy, to quantify the value of capturing brain tumours earlier, when they are smaller.

Twelve hundred patients were stratified by tumour size at diagnosis across domains including functional outcomes, healthcare resource utilisation, and mortality. By comparing outcomes at different tumour sizes, the research team was able to model the benefits of diagnosis at smaller size.

Specifically for glioblastoma multiforme, using published tumour growth rates, the study demonstrated that diagnosis just one month earlier was associated with:

• A reduction in healthcare resource utilisation (3 bed days)
• A mortality benefit of 23%

Health economic modelling on the expected NHS cost impact is currently being updated.