Singapore researchers develop AI tool for liver cancer recurrence

The TIMES system predicts risk with 82% accuracy.

Researchers from A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (A*STAR IMCB) and Singapore General Hospital (SGH) have developed an AI-powered scoring system to predict the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of liver cancer.

The system, entitled the Tumour Immune Microenvironment Spatial (TIMES) score, predicts recurrence risk with about 82% accuracy by analysing the precise spatial distribution of ‘natural killer’ cells and five specific genes in liver tumour tissues.

“In Singapore, up to 70% of liver cancer patients experience recurrence within five years,” Joe Yeong, Principal Investigator at A*STAR IMCB and Principal Investigator, Department of Anatomical Pathology, SGH, said.

The researchers validated the TIMES system using samples from 231 patients across five hospitals.

They have also made the technology accessible via a free web portal for research use, with plans to integrate TIMES into routine clinical workflows.

Moreover, the team is planning further validation studies at SGH and the National Cancer Centre Singapore, scheduled to start later this year.

Discussions are ongoing with diagnostic partners to develop the system into a clinically approved diagnostic test kit.