Indian Council of Medical Research

A public-private national project in India has introduced what could be the country's first comprehensive cancer multi-omics database fifteen years after its founding. The Indian Cancer Genome Atlas (ICGA) focuses on studying cancer biology specific to the Indian population to create datasets that can be utilised in developing personalised treatment protocols Based on a media release, the open-access ICGA portal initially includes clinically annotated data on DNA, RNA, and protein profiles of breast cancer patients, along with their treatment histories and outcomes. By next year, the available data will be expanded from the current 50 patients to over 500. "This data is freely accessible to the global research community under India’s PRIDE guidelines, which promote ethical sharing and collaboration in cancer research," a press statement noted. The portal was built based on the cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics platform developed by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. THE LARGER TREND Health and medical researchers in India have long relied on databases from global sources. "Historically, cancer treatments in India have been based on Western data sets. However, cancers in Indian patients can differ significantly at the molecular level," the ICGA said. Two years ago, India's peak body for biomedical research, the Indian Council of Medical Research , started building datasets representing Indian diversity. These datasets, for one, will underpin the development and integration of AI technologies in healthcare. In 2023, India recorded over two million new cases of cancer – the third highest in the world. Late detection and poor intervention are reportedly driving this trend. Digital technologies have been identified as one solution to address India's growing cancer problem. The Koita Centre for Digital Oncology established by the government-backed National Cancer Grid is one of those centres established to promote the digitalisation of cancer care in the country. ON THE RECORD "Cancer touches all of us, and the need for more effective, personalised treatments – especially tailored to the unique genetic and environmental factors in India – is urgent. This portal will empower researchers with crucial data to advance customised cancer research for better treatment outcomes," Dr Anand Deshpande, a non-executive director of ICGA, commented.

The All India Institute Of Medical Science in New Delhi recently unveiled its new AI solution that assists with the early detection of cancer. Developed with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Pune under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the AI system runs on deep learning models capable of analysing complex medical data with "unprecedented accuracy and efficiency". It was trained using a data set of 500,000 radiological and histopathological images from 1,500 cases of breast and ovarian cancers, the two most common types of cancer. It has now been applied by the Department of Gynaecology to validate cases of breast and ovarian cancer. AIIMS has made the AI solution available to cancer hospitals and research centres for implementation, with deployment already made to five undisclosed district hospitals. The Neurology Department at Aster CMI Hospital has created an AI tool for screening Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). The AI diagnostic solution can identify the median nerve in ultrasound videos and detect CTS with 95% accuracy, the hospital claimed in a statement. Singapore-headquartered Qritive was recently signed by three diagnostic centres and hospitals in India to deliver AI-driven pathology management solutions. According to a press release, Metropolis Healthcare , Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, and CŌRE Diagnostics will be adopting Qritive's Pantheon image management system and AI solutions as part of their respective pathology modernisation strategies. "The integration of Qritive’s AI-powered platform into our workflows signifies a revolutionary step in enhancing precision, timeliness, and personalised diagnosis," Metropolis Healthcare CEO Surendran Chemmenkottil commented. "This collaboration will strengthen our diagnostic precision, resulting in improved patient outcomes, and reaffirm our dedication to delivering excellence in clinical care. The collaboration also has the potential to lead to the development of new AI services for the diagnosis of rare diseases," said Dinesh Chauhan, CEO of CŌRE Diagnostics. "With efficient identification of concerning areas and precise grading, integrating these tools has enhanced our workflow and diagnostic precision, offering significant benefits to our practice," Dr Gurudutt Gupta, head of the Pathology Department at Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute Research Centre, also said about their adoption of Qritive's technology. Amrita Hospital in Faridabab announced that the head of its Radiation Oncology department has received a grant from the government to develop a robot-assisted ultrasound system for image-guided therapies and hyperthermia for cancer treatment. Explaining his project, which has received support from the Indian Council of Medical Research, Dr Bhaskar Viswanathan said, "It is a non-invasive technique that uses focused ultrasound waves and has a huge potential in cancer treatment like tumour ablation, mild hyperthermia for radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and motion management during radiation delivery." "This cutting-edge technology will allow precise localisation of lesions, enabling targeted and effective delivery of therapeutic radiation and avoiding damage to the surrounding tissue and organs," he added. Dr Viswanathan will also collaborate with the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad and Eranki Labs for this three-year p roject. Ambulance service Medulance has launched what could be the first 5G-enabled medical facility offering for corporates. Launched in a corporate office in Gurgaon, city southwest of India's capital New Delhi, the Smart Medical Room features diagnostic tools, telemedicine capabilities, and real-time monitoring systems. Enabling rapid communication and data transfer, it reduces emergency response time to "under 4 minutes," the company claimed in a statement. "[W]e are not only treating basic parameters inside the medical room like CPR or Basic Life Support [but] we’re also going to provide teleconferencing with the doctor from this medical room and we will ensure that they can see the patient’s vitals remotely – this means blood pressure, sugar levels, and ECGs can be simultaneously shown to a doctor while the patient is on [their] way to a hospital," Medulance co-founder Pranav Bajaj further explained.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India is now looking into reports of an alleged data leak from the COVID-19 vaccination platform Covid Vaccine Intelligent Network or Co-WIN. WHAT IT'S ABOUT Several media reports have shared posts from Twitter that the personal data of vaccinated individuals were found accessible using a Telegram bot. The bot is supposedly able to pull those data using the mobile number or the Aadhaar number (unique 12-digit number) of a person. In a statement, the MOHFW denied the reports as "without any basis and mischievous in nature." "Co-WIN portal of [the] Health Ministry is completely safe with adequate safeguards for data privacy," it said. The ministry has already tapped the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team to investigate those reports while an internal exercise is now being conducted to review the existing security measures of the vaccination portal. In its initial report, CERT-In pointed out that the back-end database for the Telegram bot was not directly accessing the APIs of the Co-WIN database. WHY IT MATTERS Per the ministry, access to Co-WIN data is only possible via OTP authentication and at three levels: Beneficiary dashboard: vaccinated individuals can access their own Co-WIN data using their registered mobile number with OTP authentication. Co-WIN authorised users: vaccinators with an authentic log-in credential. Their log-ins are being tracked and recorded by the system. API-based access: third-party apps providing authorised access to Co-WIN APIs can also access an individual's vaccination data only by using the vaccination beneficiary's OTP. The MOHFW clarified that a Telegram bot cannot share any Co-WIN data without the individual's OTP and that it cannot capture their address. The development team behind Co-WIN assures there are no public APIs that can pull data from the vaccination platform without an OTP, although there are some APIs that have been shared with third parties, like the Indian Council of Medical Research, for data sharing purposes. Meanwhile, the API as described in the reports is "very specific and the requests are only accepted from a trusted API which has been white-listed by the Co-WIN application," the ministry noted. Additionally, the MOHFW said that security measures, including web application firewall, anti-DDoS, SSL/TLS, regular vulnerability assessment, and identity and access management, among others have been in place on the vaccination platform. THE LARGER TREND This is the third time that allegations of a Co-WIN data leak have been reported. Last year in January, it was alleged that vaccination data, including the personal information of about 20,000 people , were being sold in an underground database marketplace. Such reports were later brushed off the by the ministry, which assured that the portal keeps people's data "safe and secure." Before this, it was also reported that the COVID-19 vaccination database from India was being sold on Data Leak Market, which the government also denied. Co-WIN went live in January 2021 to serve as a platform where citizens can book vaccination slots and download their vaccination certificates digitally. Regarded as a force of public good, Co-WIN's API was made open-source by the government six months later. Meanwhile, the Indian government has upgraded the Co-WIN platform to track all vaccinations against common preventable diseases, including measles and rubella.