IEEE 125th Anniversary Media Event: Cancer Prediction

Cancer is a very complex biological phenomenon with many possible causes and developments. Dr. Liu's work uses a very simple dependence equation to model the normal and abnormal cases at both the gene and proteomic levels to accurately classify and distinguish if the samples in question are with or without cancer. Furthermore, such a simple equation can explain the development and progress of cancer from normal to cancer stage, offering a tool for cancer prediction and biomarker selection. This work enables us to see the dawn of digital revolution in cancer treatment. 

More fundamental and clinical research and testing will be done by Dr. Liu's team to fully understand the accuracy of cancer classification and prediction based on each different cancer type. The development of computational system biology using signal processing and engineering tools will continue to advance to improve the performance. Perhaps in the next five to ten years, some digital testing of cancer can supplement the traditional biological testing to offer as a reliable second opinion to improve cancer detection accuracy rate and reduce false alarms.

The end goal is that one day an individual can go to a routine annual check and with a single blood draw, the doctor will be able to tell not only if the patient's cholesterol is high or not, but also will have the ability to determine whether he or she is in the transition stage to developing, for example, liver or breast cancer. This information will offer the earliest possible prediction of whether an individual is in danger of developing cancer and will allow for preventative treatment.