Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and IBM collaborate in applying Watson technology to oncology

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and IBM have agreed to collaborate on the development of a physician support tool built upon the IBM Watson computing system. The initiative will combine the computational power of IBM Watson with MSKCC’s clinical knowledge, existing molecular and genomic data and vast repository of cancer case histories, in order to create an outcome and evidence-based decision support system. The goal is to give oncologists everywhere the ability to obtain detailed diagnostic and treatment options based on the latest research that will help them decide how best to care for an individual patient. There are  hundreds of cancer subtypes, each with a different genetic fingerprint. Significant discoveries in molecular biology and genetics have delivered new insights into cancer biology and treatment strategies, but these advances have also made diagnosing and treating each case more complex.