TEPScan questions, answered.

TEPScan is a liquid biopsy from Care Onco Biotech that looks for signs of cancer in blood platelets. It measures an 11-gene RNA signature in tumor-educated platelets (TEPs) with qRT-PCR, and a proprietary AI model interprets the result. It needs 6 ml of blood and about 2.5 hours.

Platelets circulating in the blood take up RNA and other molecules released by tumours, which changes their own RNA profile. These altered platelets are called tumor-educated platelets. Because platelets are abundant and replaced every 7–10 days, their RNA offers a fresh, readable signal of what is happening in the body.

6 ml of blood collected in EDTA tubes (three vials). Many other liquid biopsies need around 15 ml.

In Care Onco’s validation across 400 samples from India and Norway, TEPScan reached an average accuracy (AUC) of about 91%, including Stage I disease. The published 11-gene signature reported an AUC of 0.91–0.94 for non-small cell lung cancer (Goswami et al., BMC Genomics, 2020).

The TEPScan programme covers 10+ cancer types, including lung (NSCLC), head & neck, breast, ovary, prostate, kidney, colon, pancreas, thyroid, soft tissue and gastric cancers. The first Research Use Only launch in India is planned for NSCLC and head & neck cancer.

TEPScan is designed to cost about $100–150 per test, roughly a tenth of today’s multi-cancer liquid biopsies, which typically cost $450–1,500.

Any lab that can run a COVID RT-PCR test. TEPScan works on open and closed qPCR platforms, including Bio-Rad and Thermo Fisher QuantStudio, so no sequencing infrastructure is needed. Labs upload results to Care Onco’s AI cloud and receive a same-day report.

Not yet for diagnostic use. TEPScan is currently for Research Use Only and is not for use in diagnostic procedures. Care Onco has started work with India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and plans an RUO launch in India for NSCLC and head & neck cancer.

Care Onco is developing TEPScan for relapse detection and minimal residual disease monitoring, in addition to early detection. These uses are part of ongoing validation.

ctDNA tests look for fragments of tumour DNA, which are scarce in early-stage disease and usually need sequencing. TEPScan reads RNA changes in platelets, which are abundant, using a low-cost qRT-PCR workflow that returns results in hours rather than 7–14 days.