Artificial Intelligence for treating Cancer therapy Resistance (AI-Care)

Focus topic:	Artificial Intelligence
Type of funding:	Project funding programmes
Programme:	CZS Breakthroughs
Funded institution:	Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau

In pharmaceutical research, the early detection of undesirable or even absent effects of therapeutics represents the greatest hurdle to successful To achieve a breakthrough in the treatment of brain tumors, an AI-based model for the interplay of gene activity and therapy response is being developed. The goal is to predict the effect of drugs and optimize personalized therapies for cancer patients.

Goals

Glioblastomas are aggressive brain tumors characterized by a high degree of phenotypic heterogeneity and plasticity. Their ability to transition into resistant cell states makes conventional therapies fall flat. The project team of Prof. Dr. Naim Bajcinca at the Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) and Dr. Bernhard Radlwimmer at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg will use AI to explore and solve this challenge.

The goal is to develop an AI model that is able to identify the underlying key molecular processes of glioblastoma plasticity. On this basis, it is hoped to control the behavior of cancer cells, predict their response to drugs, and optimize personalized therapies for glioblastomas. The project team's work could open new avenues not only in the treatment of glioblastoma, but also other deadly cancers. The concept of AI-assisted personalized precision medicine could thus become a reality.