“Like Science Fiction”: AI Supercomputer to Find Cancer Vaccine
The British AI supercomputer Dawn is bringing hope to cancer research: it’s set to analyze tens of thousands of datasets for medical professionals to find patterns.
Therapeutic cancer vaccines are a major field of hope in oncology. Unlike traditional treatments such as chemotherapy, therapies using these vaccines are more precise and cause fewer side effects. Personalized vaccines function like custom blueprints that specifically attack a tumor's weaknesses. However, the development of this precise cure is a slow and painstaking process.
Every tumor is unique and very good at hiding from the immune system. For accurate vaccines, researchers must first find the tiny characteristics of tumor cells that give them away and make treatment possible. The process is complex and can take years.
Now, a project has been launched in the UK that aims to massively shorten this process. The Oxford Neoantigen Atlas is designed to function like a map for the immune system, revealing a tumor's weaknesses. For this, Professor Lennard Lee's research team at the University of Oxford has gained access to one of the country's fastest AI supercomputers. This machine is to search a huge amount of tumor data and recognize previously hidden patterns. The Dawn supercomputer is now being fed with tens of thousands of datasets from cancer patients.
Personalized Cancer Vaccines Within Weeks
“It does feel like science fiction, but it's a reality,” says lead researcher Lee in an interview with BBC News. "It's 2025, this technology is here, and we're going to give it a go." The project is a major beacon of hope for all of cancer research because the data will be freely accessible. By sharing knowledge, scientists worldwide aim to win the fight against cancer together.
The Dawn supercomputer will feed the analyzed data into the Oxford Neoantigen Atlas. With this, personalized vaccines precisely tailored to a patient's tumor could be developed within weeks. “We believe we’ll be able to pave the way to design vaccines that simply weren't possible before,” Lee explains.
In a next step, such personalized vaccines will be tested for safety and effectiveness in clinical trials. Only then can the hope for a precise, individual cure become a reality.
Sources
Oxford Cancer - Centre for Immuno-Oncology
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