RESEARCH

Aiming to pave the way for the development of individual and targeted drugs with early diagnosis in breast cancer, Nişantaşı University faculty member Assoc. Dr. Zeynep Birsu Çinçin said “With the project named Biomachine, an innovative machine-learning based diagnosis and screening system will be developed with genetic data sets that play a role in the progression of the disease of breast cancer patients. With this system, it is aimed to pioneer biomarker-based personalized treatment studies that can predict the diagnosis and treatment of the disease at an early stage.”

It was noted that the Biomachine project, led by Nişantaşı University Genetics and Bioengineering Faculty Member and NishNova Manager Assoc. Dr. Zeynep Birsu Çinçin, was developed together with Nişantaşı University Genetics and Bioengineering student Özlem Mutlu in the studies as part of the TEKNOFEST Biotechnology Idea Category in 2020. It has been reported that the project is in the development process and trademark and patent applications of the work have been made.

The Most Common Cancer Type in the World in Women

Making statements about this cancer type that has a worldwide effect, Assoc. Dr. Zeynep Birsu Çinçin said:

“Breast cancer is in the first place among cancer-related deaths in women worldwide. Early diagnosis in breast cancer treatment has been shown to be highly correlated with recovery. While the 5-year survival rate can increase up to 90 percent in the early stages of the disease, this rate decreases to 20 percent due to the rapid spread of cancer cells in the later stages of the disease. "

Emphasizing that the most important method against breast cancer is early diagnosis, Çinçin said, “The most common method used in the diagnosis of breast cancer, especially for women in the risk group between the ages of 40-50, is mammography screening. However, there are contradictory approaches to the correct analysis of mammography images. It is claimed that due to various problems experienced during screening, there can be misdiagnosis that causes progression of the disease and makes treatment difficult. Since the tumor is widespread in the later stages of breast cancer, specific screening tests are also required for the diagnosis of the these stages of the disease. Therefore, the importance of our project increases as the development of new and effective biomarkers associated with the disease is vital for the life of the patient.

The Importance of a Data-oriented, Holistic Approach to Cancer is Increasing

Stating that recent developments in the field of biology will bring new opportunities to identify and associate genes that are effective in cancer development, Çinçin said, “Bioinformatics science has created an important platform for establishing the link between gene activation and inhibition and biological activity changes that are effective in cancer progression. Examining the mutational and expressive changes that cause biological changes using bioinformatics methods and associating the changes with disease progression will provide an important step for early stage diagnosis.

Individual and Target-Oriented Drug Development Opportunity

Assoc. Dr. Zeynep Birsu Çinçin explained the possible effects of the project as follows:

“With the project we carry out at Nişantaşı University, we aim to ensure that clinical data and bioinformatics systems are evaluated with a holistic approach for the diagnosis of breast cancer at an early stage. This approach will lead to a new era for individual and target-oriented drug development studies. Today, a personal diagnosis system that enables the evaluation of pathological, radiological and genetic analysis results of cancer patients with clinical data has not been developed yet. We strongly believe that computerized pathology, radiology and genetic analysis with a developing a common machine-learning algorithm will accelerate the invention and development of new drugs to be used for the early treatment of breast cancer."