Dr. Carmen Lili Rodríguez Velasco, researcher at the Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana (International Iberoamerican University (UNIB), presents a faster method for the early detection of breast cancer through a fine-needle aspiration (FNA).
Breast cancer has been labeled as one of the five most common deadly diseases diagnosed in women between 15 to 65 years of age. Compared to other types of cancer frequently diagnosed in patients, breast cancer holds second place, after lung cancer.
According to American statistics, breast cancer is predominantly diagnosed in Hispanic and African American women, not being exclusive to both groups as it has also been reported in men and teenagers, as well as in women undergoing hormonal treatment due to menopause.
The number of cases has been increasing, a peak of two-million cases of new patients was reported in 2018 in the US, also varying in countries like India and Pakistan, which have around 178,388 active cases of breast cancer.
Researcher, Dr. Carmen Rodríguez, has worked with a group of professionals to develop a minimally-invasive-diagnostic proposal able to process tests through supervised artificial intelligence capable of learning and analyzing the samples fast and efficiently.
The research initiative emerged from the current methods for cancer diagnosis, which, even if requested by a doctor, can take a large amount of time and resources to show results. Even though there is a culture of quick analyses, mammograms, and self-examinations, none of the three are entirely conclusive. Therefore, the use of an already-existing method is proposed; a fine-needle aspiration (FNA), minimally invasive and used in the diagnosis of several types of cancer.
An FNA is a method that involves extracting a sample of certain tissue cells or a tumor using a very fine needle. Normally, samples are observed under a microscope to determine whether cancerous cells are present. However, the proposed model involves supervised artificial intelligence capable of learning with every new sampling to minimize the margin of error and be able to identify the different stages of cancer.
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Lastly, the Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana (International Iberoamerican University) (UNIB), offers the Master in Project Design, Administration, and Management. A program that is aimed at professionals who wish to immerse themselves in the field of Projects in a responsible way and with a high discipline of study, to form innovative professionals with high social and scientific commitment.
UNIB, therefore, congratulates the researchers for contributing their knowledge to design and validate a research tool and, thus, proposing a project management methodology to improve investment in the public sector.