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t m c » p u l s e | m a y 7, 2 0 1 4 18 IBM Watson Joins MD Anderson in Cancer Fight A union of technology and human innovation made the first moon landing possible. In that same spirit, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is leveraging technology to change the very foundation of cancer care. MD Anderson's Oncology Expert Advisor (OEA) powered by IBM Watson is the result of a year-long partnership between MD Anderson and IBM to develop a cognitive clinical decision support tool that can aggre- gate vast quantities of medical data and deliver relevant information for a par- ticular patient, so that treating oncol- ogists can make evidence-informed decisions for more effective care. What Watson brings to this part- nership is a powerful combination of programmatic computing, natural language processing, hypothesis generation and dynamic learning based on question-answer. It was this impres- sive computational power that earned Watson first place in the game show Jeopardy! in 2011. In the context of can- cer care and research, the OEA is being trained to ingest complex structured and unstructured information from a variety of real-world sources —patient records, physician notes, laboratory results—and weigh these patient attributes against its ever expanding corpus of medical knowledge, oncology literature and treatment guidelines to propose appropriate evidence-based treatment options based on each patient's unique disease profile. The Oncology Expert Advisor also offers care pathway advisories, such as alerting a treating physician to a trend toward an adverse event so he or she can proactively manage a patient to minimize toxicity. In this way, OEA TOP: Lynda Chin, M.D. (Credit: Wyatt McSpadden for MD Anderson Cancer Center) LOWER LEFT AND RIGHT: At The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Assistant Professor of Leukemia Courtney DiNardo, M.D., uses IBM's Watson cognitive system while consulting with patients and colleagues. (Credit: Feature Photo Service) FACING PAGE: (Credit: IBM) B y A m a n d a D . S t e i n We meet in an hour of change and challenge, in a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. — pResIdent John F. Kennedy moon speech at rice stadium, september 12, 1962 the question is not whether we should deliver the best possible care based on the latest and best medical evidence to all patients. the question is how. It is not good enough to mandate. We must enable. — lynda chIn, M.d. chair of genomic medicine and scientific director of the institute for applied cancer science at md anderson cancer center