IBM is donating its Watson super computers to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to analyze the genomes of 10,000 cancer patients.
The gift was announced ahead of the Cancer Moonshot Summit on 28 June 2016.
Watson for Genomics technology will help in furthering the precision oncology program and help physicians to select precision treatment regimens for 30 times more patients than previously treated.
The public- private partnership will assist the doctors to serve more than 10,000 American veterans with carcinoma in the coming two years.
The partnership will increase the capabilities of physicians to select the best treatment options for veterans.
Scientists and Doctors will first sequence DNA for cancer patients and then feed the data about the genetic alteration into the supercomputer which will evaluate and produce a report for the Medical personnel which helps to pinpoint the carcinoma producing mutation and the best treatment options tailor-made to tackle the mutation based on an exhaustive review of existing medical literature.
It was a time-consuming process which Watson does in a jiffy.
Most carcinomas are caused by genetic aberrations. However, the most difficult part of any carcinoma prognosis is to identify the specific medicine which will be useful for a particular type of cancer.
There are unlimited data on Cancer research, and the sheer volume of data which must be analyzed before a decision on the best treatment option can be decided is a long and tedious process.
The rates of cancer in veterans are the highest among the population and so is the mortality. The addition of the supercomputer in the fight against cancer will facilitate rapid access for veterans to personalized care, particularly for patients with advanced cancer.
The Vice President’s goal of fighting cancer through data and collaboration will help to provide clinical care to the veterans.
