Moving Towards a Better World for Cancer Patients
Could AI help to cure cancer? A recent article by BBC seems to think that it is already on its way to being a helpful tool for doing so. Reportedly, a partnership between the Institute of Cancer Research London and the University of Edinburgh has resulted in a new technique for treating cancer, which is being called Revolver, or, Repeated Evolution of Cancer. The main utility of this technique apparently lies in its ability to pick out patterns in the major changes in a patient’s DNA during cancer in order to more accurately forecast future genetic changes that are likely to occur as a result of cancer. Apparently, the development of Revolver was tied to the industry-specific knowledge of the fact that the nature of tumors is one of the hardest parts about effectively treating cancer. In other words, tumors change constantly during cancer, which makes some treatments obsolete almost instantly.
Therefore, in response to this, the previously mentioned organizations above designed Revolver to act as at least, a step in the right direction towards tackling this issue in a better way. In terms of their greater findings during the process, it was also suggested that they came up with a link between certain ways that tumors change or, mutations that they undergo, and a patient’s likelihood of surviving the form of cancer that he or she has. What is particularly striking about this link is that it could indicate a need for the medical industry to change its approach to cancer treatments. Perhaps every doctor should begin by analyzing certain patterns in how and where tumors move throughout a patient’s body.
Doing so, of course, is not without its own risks. Without professing to have any personal, specialized knowledge of the medical profession, it is clear that doctors can only wait for so long before the cancer in question becomes too advanced. Related to this study, saying this might not actually be necessary as it seems evident that these researchers used historical data and not real-time data for these exact reasons and have no particular plans to change their approach to this process. As time rolls on, one can only hope that such findings could lead to a new and more effective, overall treatment program to truly take on and provide new treatments for cancer.
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Primary Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-45381947
