AI helps understand drug responses in ovarian cancer

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have used artificial intelligence (AI) to study how different drugs affect ovarian cancer cells. Their findings show that the cancer cells' responses to treatment can change depending on their environment, specifically when cultured with supportive fibroblast cells. The study was published in the journal Communications Biology. In the research, the team cultured ovarian cancer cells alongside fibroblasts and treated them with various drugs. They analyzed over 61,000 images of these cells to observe changes in their appearance. The fibroblasts are important because they can impact tumor growth, spread, and resistance to drugs, as well as influence the immune system. Dr. Osheen Sharma, a Ph.D. student and the study's first author, explained that the presence of fibroblasts alters the responses of ovarian cancer cells to treatment. By examining these changes, researchers hope to improve cancer treatments. Associate Professor Brinton Seashore-Ludlow, the study's last author, noted that their AI tools successfully identified similar changes linked to drugs with the same action. This research could shed light on how cancer cells and fibroblasts interact and communicate within tumors. The researchers plan to further explore the relationship between these cell types. They are also sharing their image data for use by other scientists studying cancer therapies. Overall, this study underscores the importance of the tumor environment in affecting treatment outcomes for cancer.