Breakthrough!

MEDIUM RARE

Short of announcing a cure for cancer, the announcement came in the form of an AI-enabled technology which its inventor and oncologists in several countries see as a breakthrough, using a machine as portable and lightweight as a laptop to screen patients with breast abnormalities. Breast cancer, which also occurs in men though very rarely, is the biggest killer (30 percent) among all the cancers known to medical science. The reality, to quote Dr. Norman San Agustin, is that “with early detection and diagnosis, the disease is 100 percent curable” – if only more people could be told! With the breakthrough, the good news includes describing the procedure as noninvasive, i.e., no pain, no X-ray, no discomfort, seated facing the machine, over and done in 10 minutes. Unlike mammography which has been the decades-old way of mechanically squeezing the breasts to test for the presence of cancer cells, Thermalytix is almost friendly. Dr. Geetah Munjanath of India, founder and CEO of Niramai, which means “no diseases,” is sharing her invention with Asian Breast Center under Dr. San Agustin, president and CEO. Dr. Geetah did the research for seven years and now has 30 patents, 14 of them in the US. “We don’t detect lumps, we look for cancer,” she said. First used in her homeland in 2018, Thermalytix has screened 100,000 women and 50 men in India (none of the latter tested positive). At a presentation-luncheon with doctors, media, and other stakeholders at the Polo Club last Tuesday, it was reassuring to learn that PH’s scary statistics can and should go down even without patients resorting to surgery. Just think, if we could save one woman from dying of breast cancer every hour; if 33 percent did not have to be younger than 50; and yes, mammography doesn’t work on women under 50. For a test with immediate results (false positive rate of 7.6 percent), the equivalent price in the Philippines is ₱1,000. The reading is based on body temperature as represented by colors. Thinking of buying a machine for your hospital? Price: US$8,000. Meanwhile, the doctor’s advice: Don’t wait for “signs” to have yourself screened, do it once a year, like on your birthday. Cut down on sugar and chicken. Avoid stress-causing factors (and people?).