How big data can diagnose cancer

Healthcare is one of the key areas that requires a lot of focus from the governments and researchers. Globally, a number of diseases can be prevented from spreading if the data available across institutions and hospitals is utilized properly. In recent time analytics and big data has given this hope to a number of healthcare institutions. One of the such companies which has taken data into serious thought for patient care is Positive Bioscience Ltd. The company claims to be India’s leading clinical genomics company. It was started 3 years ago by Samarth Jain with an aim to help cancer patients beat cancer and to prevent diseases in healthy individuals by integrating clinical genomics, big data and artificial intelligence. It was ranked among the top 6 start-ups globally by amazon.com in 2012. The company is using big data and artificial intelligence to predict disease risk in healthy individuals and best treatment options in cancer patients.

Making use of big data analytics

Positive Bioscience is focused on two products: Personal Genomics for healthy individuals and Cancer Genomics for cancer patients. For Personal Genomics, the product tells a healthy individual which diseases they are prone to and how best to prevent them. For Cancer Genomics, the product looks at which treatment options will work best for a cancer patient.

“The key area where Positive Bioscience uses big data analytics and artificial intelligence is for predicting which drug/treatment will be most effective in cancer patients. Our artificial intelligence computing platform, Positive Intelligence has data on thousands of cancer patients. We use machine learning techniques to correlate genetic profiles, drugs, and survival,” shares Samarth Jain, CEO and Founder, Positive Bioscience.

Positive Intelligence looks at every treatment option available for cancer and categorizes every drug into a high response, intermediate response and low response. As a result, Positive Bioscience boasts the best in industry response rate for cancer patients of 30% vs. 10% or less by conventional methods in difficult to treat cancer cases.

Developing the big data tool

If the company is to be believed, Positive Bioscience develops all its Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in house. “We hire very talented and qualified data scientists with masters or PhDs. Especially with prior experience in genomics or related fields who work very closely with our medical and technical team to develop Big Data tools. No publicly available tools exist to get the job done,” reveals Jain the secret of big data tool. The tool can test risk for hundreds of diseases including cancers, heart diseases, brain disorders, etc. Most diseases are driven by a combination of DNA alterations and environmental changes. The famous industry saying is “DNA loads the gun and the environment pulls the trigger.” Positive Bioscience is one of the few companies in India to offer personalized prevention plans on how to prevent disease risks.

Furthermore, the founder tells that Positive Bioscience offers India’s most advanced tests for both healthy individuals and cancer patients. “Our products are used by almost every leading hospital in India. Patients across the country have access to testing,” adds Jain.

Who can use the tool

Does the company plan to sell the tool? No, it does not. The tool complements their idea to treat cancer patients. Jain clears the nebulae by clarifying, “We do not sell our Big Data or Artificial Intelligence tools like Positive Intelligence. We use them internally to improve quality, accuracy and provide much better information on our products for both healthy individuals and cancer patients. As part of a client report, it’s extremely easy for doctors to apply in clinical practice without taking on the burden of learning how the tools work.”

Genomics test made simple

To run genomic tests, there are always two broad steps. The first step is to send a customer sample to a laboratory. It is a very simple process. Anyone interested in taking a personal genomics test can call company's toll free number 1800-3070-6727 or email to info@positivebioscience.com and within 24 hours the company claims to arrange for sample pick=up and send it to the lab.

The lab produces a large software file containing raw data. The second step is to analyze this data, which is done at Positive Bioscience’s headquarters. “Our specialty is in taking raw data and applying many software tools including our AI Positive Intelligence. After this, we produce a computer-generated report for each customer. Our medical staff then reviews the reports to ensure quality and then we send the report to the client,” says Jain. For Personal Genomics test it provides genetic counseling from an expert genetic counselor prior to the test.

Data sizes do matter

Its most comprehensive test is whole genome sequencing which gets information of the entire genome (meaning the person’s entire DNA). Each sample starts with 300GB of raw data. After processing each sample produces a total size of 1TB. All samples are processed in its internal data center. It takes about 4 days for a very powerful server containing 196GB of RAM to process one single sample.

Difference from the routine test

If the company is to be believed, routine tests most often look at a single data point. Genomic testing by Positive Bioscience looks at up to 3 billion (3,000,000,000) data points. Interpreting a single data point is easy. “Understanding billions at once is extremely difficult. We have to process and sort massive amounts of information to give the information most important for our clients. In the near future, all routine tests will be scrapped in favor of genomic tests as genomic tests cover all the information provided by routine testing,” further adds Jain. Worldwide the testing paradigm is shifting from testing very little to testing everything and using big data and artificial intelligence to make sense of the data.

Future roadmap

Positive Bioscience aims at preventing and managing diseases by integrating genomics, big data, artificial intelligence and medical information. “We aim for every healthy individual and cancer patient to get his or her genomic tests from Positive Bioscience as we provide superior results through data analysis, sums up Jain.