CHICAGO (GenomeWeb) – Swedish Cancer Institute, part of Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, has enlisted machine-learning technology vendor GNS Healthcare in an effort to accelerate the development of precision medicine for the treatment of breast cancer.
GNS Healthcare, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will deploy its REFS (Reverse Engineering and Forward Simulation) platform to create computer models based on data from patients at Swedish Cancer Institute, the two entities announced today. These models are intended to help clinicians simulate treatments and expected outcomes according to patient-specific medical and genomic records.
Data will come from the cancer institute's Breast Cancer Research Registry and Personalized Medicine Research Program (PRMP), the organizations said. Eventually, GNS and Swedish Cancer Institute want to create a software interface to bring this technology to the entire patient population at the cancer center.
Swedish Cancer Institute has in-house molecular tumor boards to analyze cancerous tumors at the molecular level in determining suitable treatment. But this is labor-intensive and not as accurate as it could be.
"Few oncologists today have the complete training or time necessary to decipher complex results of a tumor’s biologic fingerprint. GNS’ REFS-generated models will streamline this process and enhance our PMRP's work to support providers and their patients with treatment recommendations," the institute's executive director, Thomas Brown, said in a statement.