Scientists from EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have used Danish health registries to predict individual risks for the 20 most common types of cancer. This statistical study is a proof of concept, but the analysis suggests the model could be adapted and transferred to other healthcare systems. It could help to identify people with a high risk of developing cancer, for whom early cancer screening programs could be trialled.
Detecting cancer early gives patients more treatment options and generally results in better clinical outcomes. Current screening programmes only focus on specific cancer types, for example, bowel or cervical cancer, although new blood tests are being trialled that could detect multiple cancer types. If there was a simple way to use health data to calculate an individual’s risk of developing cancer, this could further inform cancer screening.
Harnessing information-rich data
This large, systematic study used comprehensive data from the Danish health register, in which all clinical diagnoses of the population are stored. The researchers systematically analysed health records, family history, and lifestyle data. While the analysis does not allow an exact prediction of which person will develop cancer, it does determine the individual risk, and enable a comparison with people of a similar age. The paper was published in Lancet Digital Health.
The prediction model was first trained on data collected between 1995 and 2014 from 6.7 million adults. The training dataset included more than 90 million diagnoses spanning over 1,000 different diseases.
About EMBL
EMBL is Europe’s flagship laboratory for the life sciences. Established in 1974 as an intergovernmental organisation, EMBL is supported by over 20 member states. EMBL performs fundamental research in molecular biology, studying the story of life. The institute offers services to the scientific community; trains the next generation of scientists and strives to integrate the life sciences across Europe. EMBL is international, innovative and interdisciplinary. Its more than 1700 staff, from over 80 countries, operate across six sites in Barcelona (Spain), Grenoble (France), Hamburg (Germany), Heidelberg (Germany), Hinxton (UK) and Rome (Italy). EMBL scientists work in independent groups and conduct research and offer services in all areas of molecular biology. EMBL research drives the development of new technology and methods in the life sciences. The institute works to transfer this knowledge for the benefit of society.
Scientists from EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have used Danish health registries to predict individual risks for the 20 most common types of cancer. This statistical study is a proof of concept, but the analysis suggests the model could be adapted and transferred to other healthcare systems. It […]
