Fourteen cancer institutes are collaborating with IBM Watson to advance DNA analysis and personalized treatments for cancer patients.
Using Watson's cognitive computing capabilities, the cancer institutes will be able to analyze patients' cancer-causing mutations in a matter of minutes and then produce a report including medical literature and evidence-based insights to help inform treatments, a process that typically takes several weeks.
The cancer institutes will start out using Watson's capabilities for patients battling many types of cancer, including lymphoma, melanoma, pancreatic, ovarian, brain, lung, breast and colorectal cancer.
"This collaboration is about giving clinicians the ability to do for a broader population what is currently only available to a small number — identify personalized, precision cancer treatments," said Steve Harvey, vice president of IBM Watson Health. "The technology that we're applying to this challenge brings the power of cognitive computing to bear on one of the most urgent and pressing issues of our time — the fight against cancer — in a way that has never before been possible."
The 14 participating cancer institutes are:
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
BC Cancer Agency (Vancouver, Canada)
City of Hope (Duarte, Calif.)
Cleveland Clinic
Duke Cancer Institute (Durham, N.C.)
Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center (Omaha, Neb.)
McDonnell Genome Institute at Washington University in St. Louis
New York Genome Center
Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, S.D.)
University of Kansas Cancer Center (Kansas City)
University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (Chapel Hill)
University of Southern California Center for Applied Molecular Medicine (Los Angeles)
University of Washington Medical Center (Seattle)
Yale Cancer Center (New Haven, Conn.)
More cancer centers are expected to join the program later this year.
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