What You Should Know:
– A glimmer of hope emerged today for rectal cancer patients as a collaborative effort between Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospitals (UH) received a $2.78 million grant over five years from the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute. This grant will fuel research leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to personalize treatment for rectal cancer patients.
– The new research effort signifies a significant step forward in the fight against rectal cancer. By harnessing the power of AI, researchers are on the path to developing more precise treatment strategies, ultimately improving patient outcomes and quality of life.
Rectal Cancer: A Pressing Concern
Rectal cancer is the third most common type of digestive system cancer, affecting an estimated 46,000 Americans this year alone, according to the American Cancer Society. This new research initiative offers a promising approach to improving treatment outcomes for these patients.
AI Unveiling Hidden Clues in MRI Scans
The research team, led by Case Western Reserve’s Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Satish Viswanath, will utilize AI to analyze magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. By extracting specific metrics from these scans, the researchers aim to gain a clearer understanding of how rectal tumors respond to therapy. This will be a significant breakthrough in accurately determining which tumors are regressing or dying off and which are not.
A Data-Driven Approach: Analyzing Hundreds of Cases
The study will leverage a novel biology-driven radiomics approach to analyze medical images from over 900 rectal cancer patients. This data will be complemented by information collected from a prior rectal cancer clinical trial.
Identifying Treatment Success and Reducing Unnecessary Surgeries
By analyzing the collected data, the researchers aim to develop a non-invasive and highly accurate method to identify rectal cancer patients who are cancer-free after treatment. This would significantly reduce the number of unnecessary surgeries and their associated complications for these patients.
A Collaborative Effort: Merging Medical Science and AI
Dr. Viswanath’s team will spearhead this initiative with crucial support from the newly established Center for AI Enabling Discovery in Disease Biology at CWRU School of Medicine. This Center exemplifies the power of collaboration between medical science and the field of Artificial Intelligence.
