Cancer patients will now get a chance to receive customized treatment with IBM's Watson supercomputer initiative to participate in "genomic medicine" research, Agence France-Presse reported.
In a program to help doctors develop treatments tailored to each patient's genetic makeup, the U.S. computing group was teaming with the New York Genome Center, it said.
Since glioblastoma, an aggressive and malignant brain cancer that kills more than 13,000 people in the United States each year, is prevalent, oncologists will try to find treatments for these patients in the first phase.
According to AFP, a patient's genetic mutations will be correlated when the supercomputer helps in scanning medical journals, using new studies and clinical records
"Clinicians lack the tools and time required to bring DNA-based treatment options to their patients," said a statement from IBM and the Genome Center. "This joint NYGC Watson initiative aims to speed up this complex process, identifying patterns in genome sequencing and medical data to unlock insights that will help clinicians bring the promise of genomic medicine to their patients."
The initiative aims to update databases that give doctors the best treatment options since Watson can continually "learn" from new data.
"Since the human genome was first mapped more than a decade ago, we've made tremendous progress in understanding the genetic drivers of disease," said Robert Darnell, president and scientific director of the center.
"The real challenge before us is how to make sense of massive quantities of genetic data and translate that information into better treatments for patients," he said. "Applying the cognitive computing power of Watson is going to revolutionize genomics and accelerate the opportunity to improve outcomes for patients with deadly diseases."
IBM vice president John Kelly said, "Doctors will be able to attack cancer and other devastating diseases with treatments that are tailored to the patient's and disease's own DNA profiles."
Following an alliance unveiled last year with health insurer WellPoint and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York to use "big data" to help treatment, the initiative expands the use of the Watson supercomputer in fighting cancer, AFP reported.
The supercomputer was introduced during the "Jeopardy!" quiz show. It went on to defeat two human championships.
