[5 min read]
- “Big data” in medicine — the living record of millions of patients from the past and present — can help modern researchers improve outcomes and save lives.
- Providence Swedish Cancer Institute is setting its sights on the next era of big data by using leading-edge artificial intelligence tools to more efficiently standardize, anonymize, and analyze patient data.
- Providence Swedish is home to one of the nation's first registries for breast cancer, an effort that informed screening guidelines and supported grounbreaking studies.
- Learn how the generosity of donors to the Swedish Foundation is supporting this visionary and lifesaving work.
In the early 1990s, Providence Swedish founded one of the nation’s first single-disease registries for breast cancer. This extraordinary effort, supported by philanthropy and spearheaded by renowned oncologist Hank Kaplan, M.D., would go on to inform breast cancer screening guidelines, advance treatment approaches, and become the backbone for more than two dozen studies on the disease.
One example of its impact is how it influenced the use of adjuvant hormone therapy, which increases the cure rate and decreases progression of breast cancer for many patients despite significant side effects. In a retrospective analysis of Dr. Kaplan’s breast cancer registry, researchers discovered that outcomes were essentially unchanged for certain older women with small, node-negative, low-risk breast cancer. Those findings led to the de-escalation of unnecessary hormone therapy for this patient population.
It’s a hallmark example of how “big data” in medicine — the living record of millions of patients from the past and present — can help modern researchers improve outcomes and save lives.
“Even in its infancy, we could see the power of big data,” Dr. Kaplan says.
Now Providence Swedish Cancer Institute is setting its sights on the next era of big data by using leading-edge artificial intelligence tools to more efficiently standardize, anonymize, and analyze patient data. This can lead to significant advancements in patient care. And, like so much of the vital research being done across Providence Swedish, philanthropy is essential to funding this work.
How AI helps researchers connect the dots in clinical data
Another way Providence Swedish is using the power of AI to further patient care is within the organization and modeling of data. At Providence Swedish Cancer Institute’s Center for Blood Disorders and Cellular Therapy, hematologic oncologist Matthew Schwede, M.D., is leading the development of a blood cancer database, with a focus on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), with Zachary Reitz, Ph.D., lead data scientist at the Paul G. Allen Research Center. They’re working on a mechanism to structure de-identified clinical data for 30 million patients across the more than 50 hospitals in the larger Providence network. In the future, using artificial intelligence tools, this clinical data warehouse has potential to enable researchers to predict outcomes, match patients with more effective therapies, and test research questions against real patient data.
Dr. Schwede has deep expertise in this work, modeling a similar database during his fellowship at Stanford University. His findings there showed that AI was better than expected at predicting outcomes for AML patients, cross-checking its predictions against similar patient records and outcomes, and had potential to recommend next steps in treatment. With best practices and innovations exponentially growing in the field of oncology, the integration of physician decision-support tools like this clinical database, leveraged with AI, will become even more critical in advancing research and finding cures.
How philanthropy powers AI advances
With the advent of AI, the era of big data has evolved from Dr. Kaplan’s landmark breast cancer registry to today’s deep data lakes, resulting in new avenues of exploration and improved patient care. Thanks to philanthropy, our physician-researchers at Providence Swedish have the equipment, tools, and time they need to pursue bold, new ideas and remain at the front lines of this movement.
“It’s connecting the data and the tools with our expertise,” Kieper says. “It’s a constellation of folks that make this work.”
Find a physician or advanced practice clinician (APC)
At the Providence Swedish Cancer Institute, we know that no two cancers are alike. That’s why we focus on you — not your disease. If you need cancer care or are looking for testing to determine your cancer risk, we can help.
You can also learn more about available clinical trials. Our physician investigators and researchers are involved in hundreds of ongoing trials involving most types of cancer.
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About the Swedish Foundation
Your generous gift helps support a healthy tomorrow for everyone in every community we serve. Learn about more ways to give to the Swedish Foundation or make a direct donation online at swedishfoundation.org. You can also contact the Foundation at 206-368-2738 or email foundation@swedish.org. Thank you for helping us shape the future of healthcare. We can’t do it without you.
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