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. 2019 Mar 25;14(3):e0213640.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213640. eCollection 2019.

Early experience with Watson for oncology in Korean patients with colorectal cancer

Eui Joo Kim  1 , Hyun Sun Woo  1 , Jae Hee Cho  1 , Sun Jin Sym  2 , Jeong-Heum Baek  3 , Won-Suk Lee  3 , Kwang An Kwon  1 , Kyoung Oh Kim  1 , Jun-Won Chung  1 , Dong Kyun Park  1 , Yoon Jae Kim  1
Affiliations

Early experience with Watson for oncology in Korean patients with colorectal cancer

Eui Joo Kim et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Watson for oncology (WFO) is a cognitive computing system providing decision support. We evaluated the concordance rates between the treatment options determined by WFO and those determined by a multidisciplinary team (MDT).

Methods: We reviewed the medical charts of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer who visited the MDT at a single tertiary medical center from November 2016 to April 2017. WFO classified the treatment options for specific patients into three categories: 'Recommended', 'For consideration', and 'Not recommended'. Concordance rates between the WFO- and MDT-determined chemotherapy options, and the factors that potentially influence the concordance rate, were analyzed.

Results: Sixty-nine patients with colorectal cancer met with the MDT from Nov. 2016 to Feb. 2017. The mean age of the patients was 62 years (range: 34-86 years), and more patients were male (47/69) than female. Of the 69 patients, 51 (73.9%) were diagnosed with colon cancer, of whom 46.4% received the same regimen recommendation from WFO ('Recommended') as they did from the MDT. After inclusion of the 'For consideration' category from WFO, the concordance rate increased to 87.0%. The concordance rate between MDT and NCCN guidelines was 97.1%, and that between the WFO and NCCN guidelines was 88.4%. The concordance rates between WFO and MDT were significantly lower in patients with stage II, IIIC, or IV disease (P<0.001), and the colorectal cancer stage was the only statistically significant factor discriminating between WFO and MDT.

Conclusions: The concordance rate between chemotherapy regimens for colorectal cancer determined by MDT versus WFO recommendations was 46.4%. After including the 'For consideration' category from WFO, the concordance rate increased to 88.4%. Further modification and improvement of the WFO prioritizing algorithm used to recommend treatment may increase the usefulness of WFO in the clinic.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interest exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. A diagram showing how the concordance between groups was measured.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Diagram of the concordance rates.
The WFO ‘Recommended’ treatment option and MDT recommendation.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Concordance rates between WFO and the other groups.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Comparison of concordance rates between WFO and MDT stratified by clinical factors.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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