AI Finds and Ranks Best Drugs for a Rare Cancer

Artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning is rapidly becoming a valuable tool in health care, oncology, and precision medicine. A new study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association of Cancer Research, shows how an AI algorithm can rank the accuracy of drug therapies to treat bile duct cancer. "The application of computational approaches to make treatment recommendations based on the biological data of a given cancer holds great promise," wrote the researchers affiliated with the Queen Mary University of London, The Alan Turing Institute, Kinomica Ltd, Kings College Hospital, Foundation for Liver Research, and the King's College London who conducted the study. Bile duct cancer, cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), is a rare disease where malignant cells form in the network of tubes called bile ducts located either inside (intrahepatic) or outside (extrahepatic) the liver according to the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. Bile is a thick greenish-yellow fluid consisting of bile salts, cholesterol, bilirubin, and waste products secreted by the liver to carry away waste and break down fats during digestion.