Glioblastoma, or glioblastoma multiforme, is a malignant, rapidly growing, grade 4 brain cancer whose main symptoms could be headaches, vomiting, seizures or nausea, and can occur in any part of the brain, commonly in the frontal and temporal lobes. Watson is acting in this area of genomics interpreting data from genomic data because is analyzing gene sequence variations between cancerous biopsies and normal to help people with a glioblastoma to live more than the average one year of life predicted, providing personalized treatment, by analyzing amounts of data from clinical records and the medical literature available, and a faster process of decision due to the rapid genome sequencing that Watson can do.
Dr. Robert Darnell, CEO, President and Scientific Director of the New York Genome Center said: “Since the human genome was first mapped more than a decade ago, we’ve made tremendous progress in understanding the genetic drivers of disease. The real challenge has been making sense of massive quantities of genetic data and translating research findings into better treatments and outcomes for patients… Applying the cognitive computing power of Watson is going to revolutionize genomics and accelerate the opportunity to target personalized care for deadly diseases like cancer.”
In the image below is possible to see the detailed information that Watson give from a cell where is possible to analyse the growth factor, transcription factor and other information essential for a good treatment decision from the doctors.
In short, this is a kind of cancer that needs a fast answer because it spread rapidly into other parts of the brain and, in this cases, the time that Watson saves in diagnosing quickly is precious for the life of all the people with this disease.