AI-based tool for lung cancer treatment developed in Jerusalem

A new tool to enhance the decision-making of medical staff and patients during the treatment of lung cancer patients is under development at Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

A new innovative tool that can be used to predict the effects of immunotherapy on patients suffering from lung cancer is under development at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, the Jerusalem hospital announced Tuesday.

The AI (artificial intelligence)-based technology, named I3LUNG, will make use of machine and deep learning to analyze a wide variety of patient information in order to formulate a treatment plan that is suited to the specific medical situation of every patient.

The development of the new innovation is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation funding program, which Israel joined in 2021.

Shaare Zedek was chosen to become the first and only Israeli hospital to receive such a grant. The goal, the medical center says, is to create a new tool to enhance the decision-making of medical staff and patients during the treatment of lung cancer.

As part of the research done on the project, oncology experts from Italy, Germany, Spain, Greece and the United States, as well as staff from Shaare Zedek’s oncology department, all joined the effort to begin the development of the groundbreaking tool.

‘A new technological peak’
The I3LUNG project is headed by Oncology Department head Prof. Nir Peled and Dr. Lila Rozman, head of the hospital’s cancer research innovation department.

Rozman explained that the information gathered by I3LUNG will come from a retrospective analysis of 2,000 lung cancer patients from oncology departments worldwide. “In addition, psychological research will be conducted to determine patients’ preference in regards to the project,” she said.

“Soon, Shaare Zedek patients will have an option to be part of a new technological peak in terms of cancer treatment,” Rozman said.

“It is a big honor to be part of this medical revolution: a great Israeli pride,” Peled said.