How machine learning is helping patients diagnosed with the most common childhood cancer

New software developed by Peter Mac and collaborators is helping patients diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) to determine what subtype they have. ALL is the most common childhood cancer in the world, and also affects adults. "Thirty to forty percent of all childhood cancers are ALL, it's a major pediatric cancer problem," says Associate Professor Paul Ekert from Peter Mac and the Children's Cancer Institute, who was involved in this work. More than 300 people are diagnosed with the disease in Australia each year, and more than half of those are young children under the age of 15. Determining what subtype of ALL a patient has provides valuable information about their prognosis, and how they should best be treated.