New Research Project: Overcoming Tumour Resistance with Artificial Intelligence

Carl Zeiss Foundation finances cross-location joint project in AI-assisted cancer research. Forecasting how aggressive brain tumours respond to certain substances with Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods - that is the goal of a research project in which bioinformaticians at Heidelberg University are involved. With the aid of experimental studies in combination with AI-based, mathematical approaches, the scientists want to develop a model with which they can predict the ability of tumour cells to adapt to therapies. These forecasts are intended to avoid possible cases of resistance. The Carl Zeiss Foundation (CZS) is making five million euros available to fund the research studies in Heidelberg and Kaiserslautern for a period of six years. Highly invasive and aggressive brain tumours, known as glioblastomas, consist of different kinds of cancer cells with a particularly high plasticity. They possess the ability to adapt to therapies and develop resistance, so that conventional treatments like chemoor radiotherapy prove ineffective, Carl Herrmann explains.