Exciting news from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC)! A research team led by Professor Sun Cheng, in collaboration with others, has successfully developed the "TIMES" scoring system for predicting liver cancer recurrence. This system has been transformed into a publicly available, free AI diagnostic tool. Their findings were published in the prestigious international journal Nature on March 13th, 2025 (Beijing time).
Liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. After surgical removal, the recurrence rate is as high as 70%, making accurate prediction a significant medical challenge. The spatial distribution of immune cells within the tumor microenvironment significantly impacts patient prognosis, a factor previously under-utilized in clinical assessment systems.
The USTC team conducted a systematic transcriptomic and spatial omics integrated analysis based on liver cancer sections from 61 patients, constructing the "TIMES" scoring system. This globally first-of-its-kind liver cancer recurrence prediction tool, incorporating spatial immune information, is fully named the "Tumor Immune MicroEnvironment Spatial" scoring system. It demonstrates that the spatial distribution of immune cells is more decisive for clinical prognosis than their overall number, pioneering a new approach to tumor microenvironment assessment.
For convenient clinical use, the team has developed a globally accessible online platform (https://sun.times.ustc.edu.cn/ ). Doctors can upload standard pathological stained images or data of patients' liver cancer tissues to obtain a report with the TIMES score and recurrence risk.
Currently, the core algorithms and models of the TIMES system are patent-protected. The research team is actively promoting its standardized clinical translation and application, aiming to provide doctors with a novel clinical decision-support tool. This will enable the development of optimized treatment plans for patients with limited resources, ensuring broader accessibility and benefit for a wider patient population.