It may at first glance appear to be something that is not common, but the two things mentioned above could be interconnected. In a rare occasion, the astronomers and cancer researchers made research together on the breast cancer study using image analyzer software that originally developed to explore the stars.
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| Star-gazing software helps fight breast cancer. (Picture from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/) |
This automated system offers the quick way to test if a tumor is aggressive. One time this method makes the pathologist no longer rely on the microscope in thin track differences in samples were again examined. Scientists from the University of Cambridge, called astronomy algorithms that adapted to biology, proved far more quickly and accurately than general tumor analysis procedures.
Astronomers had long been using a sophisticated computer system to parse unclear objects in the night sky, while the software used by Cambridge team was originally developed to help search for habitable planets. But the methods and software has never been used in the biomedical until now.
"We've exploited the natural overlap between the techniques astronomers use to analyse deep sky images from the largest telescopes and the need to pinpoint subtle differences in the staining of tumour samples down the microscope," said lead author Dr Raza Ali, a pathologist from Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, told Reuters. Ali and his colleagues have observed about 2,000 tumor samples and found that the astronomical algorithm system could process all of the samples in one day, but if we are using manual analysis required a week's time.
The scientists now plan to conduct more extensive research involving samples from more 20,000 breast cancer patients, in order to improve scientific approach. Studying tumour samples is a key part of breast cancer treatment since differences can show whether or not a tumour expresses a certain protein. A "positive" result means a patient may be suitable for a targeted drug like Roche's Herceptin.
Some diagnostics companies are already looking at other ways to automate the analysis of tumour samples but Ali said this was the first example of exploiting know-how adapted from astronomy. The team of Cambridge cancer researchers and astronomers, who
published their findings in the British Journal of Cancer, have placed
all their algorithms and images in the public domain in the hope of
encouraging further collaboration. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | REUTERS | SRI | PIKIRAN RAKYAT 14032013]
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