CARE-AI: Cancer assessment risk estimation using artificial intelligence.

e13618 Background: Access to genetic testing for detecting hereditary cancer is limited, and conventional methods for selecting candidates are often imprecise. As a result, only a small proportion of those tested are found to carry pathogenic mutations, highlighting suboptimal selection criteria. Variability in guidelines, subjective interpretations, and incomplete family histories further complicate candidate identification. This study aims to address these limitations by developing an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to enhance the selection process for germline genetic testing. Methods: The dataset comprises over 10,000 pedigrees from the Familial Cancer Unit of Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal. Each record includes structured data on familial relationships and demographic attributes, as well as semi-structured clinical annotations. A robust preprocessing pipeline was developed to address heterogeneity in family structures, standardize free-text clinical annotations, and impute missing values using statistical and categorical imputation methods. Three machine learning models, Gradient-Boosted Trees (XGBoost), Random Forests, and Neural Networks, were evaluated for predictive performance using an 80/20 training-testing split. The final model was selected based on its ability to predict pathogenic or likely pathogenic genetic variants with high sensitivity and specificity. An interactive user interface was developed to enable real-time predictions and seamless integration into clinical workflows. Results: The XGBoost model achieves an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.72, outperforming conventional statistical models in both accuracy and generalization across diverse cancer syndromes. Traditional models often lack specificity for hereditary cancers and are limited in their applicability to multiple cancer types. Conclusions: This AI-powered tool offers a significant advancement over existing methods by leveraging family and clinical data to improve the identification of hereditary cancer risk. With its robust generalization across cancer types, the tool enables more accurate and equitable access to genetic testing. Its integration into family cancer clinics promises to enhance resource allocation and increase detection rates of pathogenic variants, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Clinical Oncology
Published
2025-05-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2025.43.16_suppl.e13618
Primary Topic
Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical Imaging
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

CARE-AI: Cancer assessment risk estimation using artificial intelligence.

Marta Fernández, Daniel López Martínez, Victoria López-Gómez, Elena Vida-Navas et al.
Journal of Clinical Oncology
Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical Imaging
article

CARE-AI: Cancer assessment risk estimation using artificial intelligence.

Marta Fernández, Daniel López Martínez, Victoria López-Gómez, Elena Vida-Navas, Carmen Guillén‐Ponce, Julia Simón, Javier Zamora, María Teresa Salazar, María García-Fraile
article en

Abstract

e13618 Background: Access to genetic testing for detecting hereditary cancer is limited, and conventional methods for selecting candidates are often imprecise. As a result, only a small proportion of those tested are found to carry pathogenic mutations, highlighting suboptimal selection criteria. Variability in guidelines, subjective interpretations, and incomplete family histories further complicate candidate identification. This study aims to address these limitations by developing an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to enhance the selection process for germline genetic testing. Methods: The dataset comprises over 10,000 pedigrees from the Familial Cancer Unit of Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal. Each record includes structured data on familial relationships and demographic attributes, as well as semi-structured clinical annotations. A robust preprocessing pipeline was developed to address heterogeneity in family structures, standardize free-text clinical annotations, and impute missing values using statistical and categorical imputation methods. Three machine learning models, Gradient-Boosted Trees (XGBoost), Random Forests, and Neural Networks, were evaluated for predictive performance using an 80/20 training-testing split. The final model was selected based on its ability to predict pathogenic or likely pathogenic genetic variants with high sensitivity and specificity. An interactive user interface was developed to enable real-time predictions and seamless integration into clinical workflows. Results: The XGBoost model achieves an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.72, outperforming conventional statistical models in both accuracy and generalization across diverse cancer syndromes. Traditional models often lack specificity for hereditary cancers and are limited in their applicability to multiple cancer types. Conclusions: This AI-powered tool offers a significant advancement over existing methods by leveraging family and clinical data to improve the identification of hereditary cancer risk. With its robust generalization across cancer types, the tool enables more accurate and equitable access to genetic testing. Its integration into family cancer clinics promises to enhance resource allocation and increase detection rates of pathogenic variants, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

Journal of Clinical OncologyVol. 43(16_suppl)
Instituto Cajal (ES), Federación Española de Enfermedades Raras (ES), Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria (ES), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (ES), Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal (ES)
Openalex Percentile: Top 82%
Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical Imaging
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.