Russia plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) in the calculations needed to create a personalized cancer vaccine. According to Alexander Ginzburg, the director of the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, a national database of tumor genetic sequences will be established to train artificial intelligence.
He explained that the database is necessary so that the AI can learn and make fewer mistakes. Its use will speed up the process of creating a personalized vaccine. “In order to train the AI, an experimental database is needed, namely, sequences of about 40-50 thousand tumors with the definition of this antigen compatibility that is expressed in this patient. Thanks to this, the AI will be able to determine in the blink of an eye whether this combination can be used in a person or not. This is comparable to facial recognition in law enforcement agencies,” the scientist explained.
The innovative approach to developing a cancer vaccine was a collaborative effort involving multiple scientific teams, including the Gamaleya Center, the Herzen Moscow Cancer Research Institute, and the Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology. The preclinical trials for the drug have already been finalized; however, the approach to studying this vaccine will deviate from traditional protocols—there will not be the typical first, second, and third phases of trials. “The product is personalized, and it will be introduced according to a new document, which sets out a different procedure for the study,” Ginzburg explained. He also said that about 600 thousand cancer patients are diagnosed in Russia every year. In the near future, up to half of them may be covered by therapy. The first to test the personalized cancer vaccine will be patients with melanoma and small cell lung cancer.