Castle Biosciences, a company advancing health through innovative tests that guide patient care, announced that new data on its TissueCypher Barrett’s Esophagus test will be shared in a podium presentation at the American Foregut Society (AFS) 2025 Annual Meeting, Sept. 11–13 in Dallas.
“The findings being presented at AFS underscore the importance of moving beyond standard pathology when assessing progression risk in patients with Barrett’s esophagus,” said lead study author Caitlin C. Houghton, M.D., board-certified foregut surgeon at Keck Medicine of USC. “TissueCypher provides an added level of precision that is designed to reveal high-risk patients who might otherwise be overlooked, potentially enabling personalized surveillance and treatment strategies aimed at reducing their chances of developing esophageal cancer.”
Title: Patients With Non-Dysplastic Barrett’s Esophagus Received Individualized Risk Stratification With the Tissue Systems Pathology Test
Presenter: Caitlin C. Houghton, M.D.
Session: AFS Podium Presentations
Date & Time: Saturday, Sept. 13, 10:00–10:10 a.m. CT
Location: Tate B
For patients with Barrett’s esophagus (BE), endoscopic surveillance is intended to detect disease progression early so that endoscopic eradication therapy (EET) can prevent advancement to high-grade dysplasia (HGD) or esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Current population-based risk estimates have not slowed the rising incidence of esophageal cancer, highlighting the need for precision tools like TissueCypher.
The study evaluated 85 patients with non-dysplastic Barrett’s esophagus (NDBE) who received TissueCypher results from four surgical practices. While 85% were classified as low-risk, 15% were identified as intermediate- or high-risk—groups with significantly greater progression probabilities (9% for intermediate and 16% for high-risk over five years) compared to guideline-based estimates. These exceeded the 8.5% five-year risk associated with expert-confirmed low-grade dysplasia (LGD), the threshold for more frequent surveillance or escalation to EET.
The findings suggest that TissueCypher can differentiate patients with NDBE who remain low risk from those whose true risk profile may warrant earlier intervention, thereby supporting more personalized, risk-aligned management strategies aimed at preventing cancer progression.