IIT-Madras researchers develop AI tool to predict cancer-causing genes

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-Madras) have developed an Artificial Intelligence-based tool – ‘PIVOT’ – that can predict cancer-causing genes in an individual, IIT-Madras said in Chennai on Wednesday (July 6).

The tool would help devise personalised cancer treatment strategies, the institute said. PIVOT, is designed to predict genes that are responsible for causing cancer, a press release said.

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“The prediction is based on a model that utilises information on mutations, expression of genes, and copy number variation in genes and perturbations in the biological network due to an altered gene expression,” it added.

The research findings have been published in a peer-reviewed journal Frontier in Genetics.

Researchers from @iitmadras have developed an Artificial Intelligence-based tool, ‘PIVOT’, that can predict cancer-causing genes in an individual. This tool will ultimately help in devising personalised #cancer treatment strategies.@rbc_dsai_iitmhttps://t.co/wvIJVF9OS8 pic.twitter.com/T4IDjT7xkV

— IIT Madras (@iitmadras) July 6, 2022

The research was led by Raghunathan Rengaswamy, Dean (Global Engagement), IIT-Madras, and Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering; Karthik Raman, Associate Professor, Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences, IIT-Madras, and a Core Member, Robert Bosch Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (RBCDSAI) and Malvika Sudhakar, Research Scholar, IIT-Madras.

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“Cancer, being a complex disease, cannot be dealt with in a one-treatment-fits-all fashion. As cancer treatment increasingly shifts towards personalised medicine, such models that build toward pinpointing differences between patients can be very useful,” Dr. Karthik Raman, Core Member, RBCDSAI, IIT-Madras, said in a statement.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), cancer is a leading cause of deaths worldwide.

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(With inputs from agencies)