Results from a Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center study suggest that artificial intelligence and precision medicine may soon lead to greater accuracy in survival predictions for malignant pleural mesothelioma. The research, published in Nature Cancer, details how scientists were able to use the technology to identify biomarkers that were superior to the tests currently in use.
Mesothelioma Patients May Benefit from Artificial Intelligence Research
Though the Cedars-Sinai researchers tested their theory on pancreatic cancer, their results suggest that the same technology can be used in the future for mesothelioma and other challenging types of cancer. The group combined clinical data from lab tests and pathology studies with multi-omic molecular data to create virtual replicas of patient tumors to help identify optimal therapies and predict how cancer will impact each patient.
The study’s co-author, Dan Theodorescu, MD, PhD, suggested that whether dealing with pancreatic cancer cells, mesothelioma cells, or any other type of cancer, scientists will be able to build a database from these molecular twins that will improve treatment and facilitate research. He predicts that the next few years will see “transformational progress” attributable to the use of artificial intelligence.
The report detailed how plasma and tumor tissue samples from 74 patients with stage I or stage II resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma were used to conduct sequencing of DNA and RNA, then submitted for AI analysis to predict survival. The model incorporated 6,363 data points, and then compared the AI prediction to the standard pancreatic cancer prognostic test in use. According to Theodorescu, this approach goes beyond looking at the cancer alone to create a more holistic analysis than what can be derived using data on cancer type or stage alone.
Researchers’ Conclusion of Better Predictions Gives Mesothelioma Physicians Hope
Dr. Theodorescu says that their results prove that if you look at both the cancer and the host, you get better predictions, and this conclusion bodes well for those treating patients with challenging cancers like malignant pleural mesothelioma. The platform offers hope that using the framework of the multi-omic biomarker panels and molecular twins to build a database of information can be applied to all cancer types.
In discussing the applications of their findings, the researchers say they may gain insights into why therapies work on some patients and not others, providing physicians with a better sense of when a patient is appropriate for a clinical trial or another type of protocol for an optimal outcome.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, the greatest hope lies in innovative research. For more information on accessing cutting-edge care, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
