Mayo Clinic rings in the new year with two AI-powered cancer care initiatives
The Mayo Clinic has big plans to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) for cancer care initiatives in 2024. AI developers Aiforia and SimBioSys have announced new agreements with the academic medical center, both related to improving cancer care delivery.
In its announcement, Aiforia said it secured an exclusive licensing agreement with the Mayo Clinic to globally commercialize a deep-learning model designed to enhance the prediction of colorectal cancer recurrence. The model was developed as part of an ongoing collaboration between the Mayo Clinic and Aiforia.
The AI model identifies crucial histological features of colorectal cancer, yielding a recurrence prediction estimate valuable for treatment decisions. The application of this AI model may optimize chemotherapy targeting, potentially reducing treatment costs and minimizing harmful side effects for patients, the company said.
The initial partnership between the Mayo Clinic and the Finnish AI developer began in 2020, involving research focused on the work of over 70 Mayo Clinic pathologists using Aiforia's AI-assisted image analysis platform. In 2023, Aiforia's software was used for diagnosing samples from real patients.
SimBioSys in a separate announcement said it is collaborating with the Mayo Clinic to develop innovative digital precision medicine solutions for breast cancer patients, specifically a new cloud-based clinical decision support tool for early-stage breast cancer diagnosis and care. The company said its system will include personalized surgical planning, treatment selection, drug choices, and risk stratification.
SimBioSys will leverage AI to analyze data from Mayo Clinic trials for the development of the platform. Mayo Clinic physicians are part of SimBioSys's clinical advisory team, and the medical research institution has a financial stake in the development and future commercialization of the new platform.
Updates are expected to be announced for both projects as the year progresses.
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