The medical field has been making considerable advances in cancer research. The number of approved therapies continues to increase at an accelerated pace. Thanks to bold investments and innovation, patients are living longer with the disease than ever before. But greater treatment options and a higher number of patients living longer means a vastly greater dataset for researchers and doctors to draw inferences from. What to do with this cancer-specific “big data”? The answer is, of course, to merge big data and cancer research. Now is the perfect time to explore more solutions through big data Oncology.
To stay ahead in the fight against cancer, institutions are undergoing a digital transformation. Big data is at the core of this technological revolution. Its usage involves tapping into large pools of clinical, biological, and genomic information. As a result, researchers have been able to make advances in treatment and diagnosis.
Using big data in cancer research is needed for better machine learning. As technology systems gather more data and profile more patients, the smarter the computer algorithms get. Artificial intelligence allows medical institutions to gain real-time insights. Such insights from big data Oncology can ultimately improve cancer care and outcomes even more.
In 2017, biotech company F1 Oncology raised $37 million for its work in immuno-oncology. Last January, the company announced an additional $10 million investment for two CAR-T products. These will be tested on patients with refractory, metastatic cancer. Big data will power the precision medicine-directed trial.
The company uses analytics for big data in cancer research instead of building off assumptions. This allows F1 to freely innovate and take more intellectual risks. Also, the company’s infrastructure and data transfer platform allow a wider selection of CAR constructs. This helps in choosing optimal compositions from thousands of options.
Another company leveraging big data and artificial intelligence is Sophia Genetics. Along with DNA Sequencing, big data and AI help detect certain types of cancer.
