Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used in research performed by the University of Leicester to study mesothelioma – an aggressive cancer caused by asbestos exposure.
The University of Leicester is using AI to analyze the DNA sequence of mesothelioma. Their research using AI has shown that the disease evolves in similar ways among individuals suffering from mesothelioma. These new findings could lead to possible treatments for this fatal cancer.
Professor Dean Fennell, Chair of Thoracic Medical Oncology at the University of Leicester and Director of the Leicester Mesothelioma Research Program, stated:
“Using AI to interrogate genomic ‘big data’, this initial work shows us that mesotheliomas follow ordered paths of mutations during development, and that these so-called trajectories predict not only how long a patient may survive, but also how to better treat the cancer.”
Treatments for mesothelioma have been relatively non-existent. Along with these new findings, Professor Fennell has also looked into to treating mesothelioma with an immunotherapy drug called nivolumab which shows promising numbers related to increased survival rates and stabilization of the disease. With research like Professor Fennell’s, mesothelioma sufferers may have hope of survival in the near future.