AI and Big Data in the Fight Against Lung Cancer

Lung cancer continues to be one of the main causes of mortality in our country. For this reason, every 17 November we celebrate World Lung Cancer Day.

DIPCAN (Digitalisation and Management of Personalised Medicine in Cancer) is an observational study with a multidisciplinary approach that aims to integrate Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in the field of Oncology to develop tools that serve in research and daily clinical practice.

AI and Big Data in the fight against cancer

According to data from the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM), it is estimated that the number of new cases of lung cancer in Spain in both sexes is around 40,000.

A small number of cases of this type of cancer are detected in the early stages. For this reason, Dr. Fabio Franco Perez, medical oncologist at the MD Anderson Cancer Center Spain Foundation and the Dipcan study wanted to point out the importance of prevention: “we must not lose sight of the fact that the main key to action lies in optimizing prevention campaigns”. Implementing screening programs aimed at patients at risk makes it possible to increase the number of tumors detected at earlier stages, “but if we do not combat the main cause of lung cancer, which is smoking, the approach is not correct”.

Cancer caused by smoking

On the other hand, according to the Spanish Association of Lung Cancer Patients (AEACaP), one of the main causes of this cancer is smoking, which accounts for 80% of cases, although there are still factors that are directly linked to other less predictable circumstances such as eating habits, lifestyle or age.

Given the need to expand studies, not only histological but also molecular profiling, technologies such as artificial intelligence and Big Data can contribute significantly to the fight against lung cancer. Dr. Fran explained that “the integration of tools such as AI and Big Data are helping us to better understand populations, patient characteristics and disease profiles, thanks to the analysis of large volumes of information, which can be applied to the clinic for the benefit of patients. Through these tools, we can integrate not only clinical but also molecular, imaging and pathological information, which will ultimately result in a better understanding and therapeutic approach to the disease”.

DIPCAN project

The DIPCAN project is led by Dr. Dr. Enrique Grande, head of Clinical Research at the MD Anderson Cancer Center Spain Foundation and has the collaboration of the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence (SEDIA), the highest body of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, and its promoters are Eurofins Megalab, the MD Anderson Cancer Center Spain Foundation, Genomcore, Artelnics, Pangaea Oncology, Atrys Health and Quibim.