A new way to prioritise the most well-evidenced treatment options for each patient’s unique cancer profile.
Why We Built Polaris
Molecular profiling has transformed our understanding of cancer — but for most patients, it hasn’t yet changed their treatment. Nearly half of all cancer patients now receive molecular testing, yet only 13% receive a matched therapy.
The gap isn’t in the science. It’s in translation — turning complex molecular data into confident clinical decisions.
With over 170,000 peer-reviewed studies, 750+ known cancer driver genes, and near-infinite combinations of molecular profiles, no individual clinician can realistically make sense of all that data for each patient. It would take more than a human lifetime to read through that volume of research.
The original Astron Research Report was built to close that gap, surfacing targeted treatment options matched to each patient’s unique profile. But with multiple targets and several drug options per target, working out where to start could still be time-consuming.
The Polaris Report solves this. Every treatment option now comes with a clear evidence score and ranking — so clinicians and patients can immediately see the most well-evidenced options for their specific case.
What the Polaris Report Does
Cancer isn’t driven by a single problem. Each tumour has its own unique set of drivers — complex, interacting pathways that fuel its growth.
There’s strong evidence that the more of those pathways you can target, the better the outcomes. But identifying which pathways matter most for a given patient and then finding the best-evidenced treatments across the entire pharmacopoeia, is research that no individual clinician could do alone, even with unlimited time.
The Polaris Report does three things that are very hard to do without it:
1. Identifies the best-evidenced repurposed therapies and adjuvants
The report looks beyond standard-of-care drugs to surface options that can target additional pathways for a more complete treatment strategy — including repurposed medications, supplements, and lifestyle interventions.
2. Finds options for the other 87%
For patients who don’t qualify for conventional precision oncology, Polaris helps clinicians find actionable, biology-aligned treatment options that would otherwise go undiscovered.
3. Synthesises the latest clinical evidence for real-world use
Not just mechanistic rationale, but trial data, dosing, timing of interventions, and lifestyle strategies — all ranked and ready for decision-making.
See the Polaris Report in Action
To see exactly how a Polaris Report works in practice, watch the full walkthrough below.
Astron CEO Ben Whatley, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Padman Vamadevan, and Chief Science Officer Sam Mckaylin walk through a real report step by step — from headline insights to detailed target analysis and supporting evidence.
How It Works: The Astron Evidence Score
At the heart of the Polaris Report is the Astron Evidence Score — a single number assigned to each treatment option that shows how well-evidenced it is for a given patient’s case.
This is what makes the report actionable: rather than reviewing each target and treatment individually, clinicians can immediately see which interventions have the strongest support.
Each score is built from four sub-scores:
Target Score (G Score)
How heavily involved the target gene is in the patient’s specific cancer.
- High score → likely essential to tumour growth and survival
- Lower score → less concrete evidence, but still potentially relevant
Drug Score (D Score)
The approval status and clinical evidence behind each drug.
- 100 → FDA-approved for this specific indication
- Lower scores → repurposed drugs, clinical trials, or experimental
- Supplements → N/A (not FDA-regulated)
Binding Score
The confidence that a drug physically engages its target.
This draws on:
- Experimental assay data
- Confirmed 3D bound structures
- ML-powered interaction simulations (when real-world data is limited)
Each drug is categorised from high-confidence real-world evidence to simulated predictions.
Evidence Score
The quality and depth of published literature supporting the drug-target interaction.
Each score includes a plain-language summary explaining the research behind it.
Not just mechanistic rationale, but trial data, dosing, timing of interventions, and lifestyle strategies — all ranked and ready for decision-making.
What a Clinician Sees: Inside a Polaris Report
When a clinician first opens a Polaris Report, they see an executive summary presenting the most well-evidenced interventions that could be made on day one — ranked by the Astron Evidence Score and adjusted by how important each target is to the patient’s specific cancer.
From there, the report breaks down every molecular alteration identified in the patient’s tumour, with the full set of treatment options for each target. For a breast cancer patient with five molecular vulnerabilities, for example, the report might identify 69 therapeutic options across 14 cancer-related pathways — each scored, ranked, and backed by curated research.
The depth is there when clinicians need it. Each drug-target pair includes a breakdown of its mechanism of action, the evidence behind each sub-score, and curated references linking to the published studies. But the structure means a clinician can also get the essentials in minutes and focus their time where it matters most.
Critically, the report doesn’t limit itself to drugs that directly target a mutated gene. For targets like TP53 — present in the majority of cancers but with no FDA-approved treatments — Polaris uses a synthetic lethality approach, identifying interaction partners that, when targeted, can still improve outcomes. This means patients whose molecular testing returns targets with no conventional options aren’t left without a path forward.
Who Can Benefit from a Polaris Report
The Polaris Report supports patients at any stage of their cancer journey, including:
- Initial diagnosis and treatment planning
- Post-treatment or early relapse assessment
- Monitoring tumour evolution during progression
- Advanced or metastatic disease strategy
The report highlights interventions backed by strong scientific evidence and tailored to each patient’s molecular and metabolic profile, including:
- FDA-approved drugs
- Repurposed medications
- Evidence-based supplements
- Lifestyle strategies (e.g. diet, exercise)
All recommendations are adjunctive, meaning they complement existing care.
As Dr. Padman Vamadevan, Astron’s Chief Medical Officer, explains:
“The goal is to avoid one-size-fits-all protocols. Every patient’s cancer is different, and the Polaris Report ensures treatments are matched to the biology of each individual case.”
Reports are delivered directly to the prescribing clinician and care team. Where a prescribing clinician isn’t available, Astron partners with a global network of trained practitioners who can interpret and apply the findings.
To learn more about the Polaris Report or to schedule a call with our team click the button below.
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