Grid Computing News : IBM Grid Helps Improve Cancer Treatment

IBM is taking its World Community Grid cancer research project to the next level with a new effort to develop diagnostic tools. Big Blue, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) and Rutgers University have launched a collaborative effort to develop diagnostic tools to better predict patients' response to treatment. By using advanced computer and imaging technologies to compare cancerous tissues, cell and radiology studies, researchers and physicians are hoping for more accurate prognoses, more personalized therapy, and, eventually, the discovery and development of new cancer drugs. IBM called the new project "a natural extension" of the Help Defeat Cancer (HDC) project, which used IBM's World Community Grid ( worldcommunitygrid.org ) to characterize different types and stages of disease based on the underlying staining patterns exhibited by digitally imaged cancer tissues. Thanks to the experimental results gathered in the HDC project, the team has received a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, which will be used to build a "deployable, grid-enabled decision support system" to help researchers, physicians and scientists automatically analyze and classify imaged cancer specimens with better accuracy.... read more