Lunit, a company that leverages AI to help detect cancer, along with Labcorp, a global leader in lab services, has announced a partnership to speed up innovation in digital pathology (DP) and AI to improve cancer research and treatment.
The partnership aims to combine Labcorp’s expert knowledge in clinical as well as pathology work with Lunit’s advanced AI technology. They plan to improve how tumor environments are studied as well as understood. By using detailed images and AI tools, they hope to discover new biomarkers and help create better treatments for cancer.
The first research results from the partnership were shared at two major scientific conferences:
- Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC): A study showed how AI along with machine learning can recognize immune-active types of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors with a specific mutation (MET exon 14 skipping), which respond well to immunotherapy. Researchers used Lunit's AI tool, SCOPE IO®, to study over 370 pathology slides and looked at how the immune system reacts to different MET mutations. This analysis helped confirm the purpose of certain immune pathways in predicting treatment success.
- Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP): A study showcased that various types of MET mutations in NSCLC tumors impact the immune environment of the tumor. Tumors with MET amplification had little immune activity, whereas tumors with MET exon 14 skipping had more immune activity than the latter.
Executive Statement
According to Brandon Suh, CEO of Lunit, collaborating with Labcorp, one of the most respected leaders in diagnostics and clinical research, marks an important step toward expanding the real-world use of AI in oncology. These early studies show how AI can reveal meaningful, predictive biomarkers hidden within pathology slides. It's a clear example of how digital pathology along with AI can work hand in hand to advance precision oncology understanding, bridging discovery research and real-world clinical care.