Groundbreaking computer program diagnoses cancer in two days

„Now, researchers at DTU Systems Biology have combined genetics with computer science and created a new diagnostic technology based on advanced self-learning computer algorithms which—on the basis of a biopsy from a metastasis—can with 85 per cent certainty identify the source of the disease and thus target treatment and, ultimately, improve the prognosis for the patient.

Each year, about 35,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in Denmark, and many of them face the prospect of a long wait until the cancer has been diagnosed and its source located. However, even after very extensive tests, there will still be 2-3 per cent of patients where it has not been possible to find the origin of the cancer. In such cases, the patient will be treated with a cocktail of chemotherapy instead of a more appropriately targeted treatment, which could be more effective and gentler on the patient.”