CHICAGO, May 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM Watson Health and its partners today unveiled 22 new scientific studies that demonstrate progress in providing clinical decision support for cancer care globally at the American Society for Clinical Oncology 2019 annual meeting.

"Artificial intelligence technology is helping to enhance the way clinicians treat cancer today, in the real world," said Nathan Levitan, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer for Oncology and Genomics at IBM Watson Health. "AI is helping multidisciplinary tumor boards make more informed decisions based on curated scientific evidence; it is surfacing critical insights and information that is not identified manually; and it is helping to improve patient satisfaction by delivering a comprehensive view of treatment options."

Watson Health's studies show how Watson AI provides value in supporting evidence-informed treatment decisions, improving patient confidence in treatment plans, and annotating genomic variants and identifying clinical interventions. In total, more than 70 peer-reviewed studies, posters and abstracts support Watson Health offerings in oncology and genomics.
"In this early era of AI use in healthcare decision-making, the studies presented at ASCO this year offer compelling evidence of the important role this technology will play in helping oncologists improve cancer treatment for each individual patient," Levitan continued.

Following are among the key study findings being presented at ASCO:

Watson for Oncology Informs Clinical Decision Changes in 13.6% of Cases Reviewed by Multidisciplinary Tumor Board: In a blinded evaluation of 1000 breast, lung and colorectal cancer patients in India, the multidisciplinary tumor board at Manipal Hospitals changed their treatment decisions in 13.6% of cases based on information provided by Watson for Oncology. Investigators reported that in these cases, decisions changed because Watson provided recent evidence for a newer treatment (55%), a more personalized alternative (30%), or new insights from genotypic and phenotypic data and evolving clinical experiences (15%). [Abstract link]

"Building on previous studies, this evidence suggests that AI decision support holds substantial promise to reduce the cognitive burden on oncologists, which is a significant problem impacting physician burnout today," said lead investigator SP Somashekhar, Chairman of Surgical Oncology, Manipal Hospitals. "We consider Watson for Oncology to be an important tool to support decision making, and this study suggests that AI could help reduce variability of care."

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