Lung Cancer: AI Shows Who Will Benefit From Immunotherapy

Lung cancer: AI shows who will benefit from immunotherapy

Lung cancer is a common and often aggressive form of cancer. As it is difficult for doctors to detect it early on, people with lung cancer need to receive the best, most targeted therapy in order to make a positive outlook more likely

Islamabad (Pakistan Point News / Online - 26th November, 2019) Lung cancer is a common and often aggressive form of cancer. As it is difficult for doctors to detect it early on, people with lung cancer need to receive the best, most targeted therapy in order to make a positive outlook more likely. Immunotherapy is an option, but how can doctors know who will benefit?Share on PinterestA new predictive model can determine which people with lung cancer will respond to immunotherapy.

According to the National Cancer Institute, lung and bronchus cancer is the second most widespread type of cancer among people in the United States, accounting for 12.9% of all new cancer cases.This form of cancer often has no noticeable symptoms in its early stages, which can mean that doctors are unable to detect it at first. This means that the outlook following treatment may not be as good as for other forms of cancer.To ensure the most favorable outcomes for people with lung cancer, healthcare professionals must choose the best type of treatment for each individual.

This, however, can be tricky, since it is often hard to tell which person will benefit the most from a particular treatment.It can also be difficult for a doctor to determine how beneficial newer types of treatments, such as immunotherapy, will be for an individual. Unlikechemotherapy, which involves using specific drugs to attack and destroy cancer cells, immunotherapy works by boosting a person's immune response against cancer tumors.Now, a team led by researchers from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH in collaboration with scientists from six other institutions has developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) model.

The model allows healthcare practitioners to find which people with lung cancer would benefit the most from immunotherapy.The investigators explain their method and report their findings in a study paper that features in the journal Cancer Immunology Research."Even though immunotherapy has changed the entire ecosystem of cancer," explains study co-author Anant Madabhushi, "it also remains extremely expensive about $200,000 per patient, per year."That's part of the financial toxicity that comes along with cancer and results in about 42% of all newly diagnosed cancer patients losing their life savings within a year of diagnosis," he adds. Madabhushi also notes that the new tool he and his colleagues are working on may help doctors and patients decide which therapy suits them best and avoid unnecessary expenses.