Watch the video above: Su-Ling Goh shows us how a computer scientist is helping a team at the Cross Cancer Institute with the treatment of breast cancer.
EDMONTON – A computer algorithm created by Alberta researchers is being used to predict whether estrogen is growing cancer cells into tumours in the breast.
It’s something that used to take a pathologist hours to test for in a lab. Now, a computer can do it in minutes. That’s in part thanks to researchers using artificial intelligence to identify three critical genes — out of the body’s 23,000 — that determine whether a tumour is fed by estrogen.
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“This new technology looks at which genes are turned on and off, and by looking at that information, we can basically save the pathologists their time and energy using the old techniques,” said Dr. John Mackey, director of the Clinical Trials Unit at the Cross Cancer Institute.
It’s said that the formula, which operates with about 93 per cent accuracy, will allow doctors to better determine what kind of treatment a patient needs. Russ Greiner, a professor of computing science at the U of A, describes it as “a step towards personalized medicine.”
“It’s exciting because it actually works, it works reliably, it works effectively, it works inexpensively,” he said.
Mackey feels this could be the future of disease testing, allowing for more customized treatments at the push of a button.
“Our expectation is that in just a matter of a few years, the whole field will move from where we take a tumour, grind it up, throw it in the machine, and it tells us all about the biology of the tumour.”
With files from Su-Ling Goh, Global News
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