AI is a “drug-hormone” to fight tumors: the last frontier of medicine
Innovative and mini-therapies invasive, the results of some research presented at Pneumo Trieste 2024
ROME – Using a type of artificial intelligence known as “deep learning”, applied to a data collection method called system biology, James Collins, a researcher at MIT in Boston, has discovered a class of antibiotics capable of killing a drug-resistant bacterium (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – MRSA), which causes more than 10,000 deaths in the United States alone every year.
PNEUMO TRIESTE 2024
The results of the research were illustrated during PneumoTrieste 2024, a medical
scientific meeting inspired by the words of Umberto Veronesi “treatment is better where research is also done”,
organised from Asugi’s Trieste Pneumology directed by Professor Marco Confalonieri in which around 600 specialists from all over Italy and abroad participated.
James Collins, awarded the Clarivate citation in 2023 (a sort of antechamber to the Nobel) has
stated that “the new method based on artificial intelligence requires a lot of preliminary data
on the bacteria, on the possible candidate compounds to become drugs, on the mechanisms of
cell damage and protection of the human organism to then allow us to very quickly
predict which molecules are most suitable for that particular microbe without damaging the “good” microbes that for example we have on the skin and in the intestine”. p>
THE DRUG-HORMONE
Professor Umberto Meduri of Memphis illustrated the many properties of a powerful “drug-
hormone”, which is a hormone produced by our body (as well as a well-known drug) and acts on
all cells (except red blood cells), coordinating the body’s response to stress. Molecules
such as cortisone together with vitamins can imitate, at appropriate paraphysiological doses, what the human organism does in each of its cells when a negative stress causes damage, helping to
repair the cells and restore the normality in an increasingly natural and physiological way compared to
drugs that interfere with biological mechanisms.
TELEMEDICINE
During an interesting seminar moderated by Dr. Gianna Zamaro, head of the
Regional Health Directorate of Friuli Venezia Giulia, we took stock of new ideas and experiences
of connection between hospital and territory in favor of of the chronically ill, starting from the assumption that the most widespread respiratory pathologies, such as bronchial asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), have a significant impact on the health of citizens, especially the older ones< br>and with multiple pathologies (such as lung+heart+kidney+diabetes). Telemedicine – it has been confirmed –
can represent a solution in the hands of doctors and health systems to encourage the
coordinated interaction of home interventions for the most fragile patients.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Infectious diseases also found space at PneumoTrieste 2024, although COVID-19 is no longer under the spotlight. Doctor Giovanni Battista Migliori, collaborator
of the World Health Organization for the control of tuberculosis, stated that “in Italy a program dedicated to tuberculosis would be needed, also taking into account the strong influx from countries with a high incidence linked to poverty : a national TB program, with a competent manager and an agile and representative committee, which acts electronically on urgent issues and develops a coordinated strategic plan for regional health systems, could help to achieve the goal to eliminate tuberculosis from Italy by 2030”.7
PULMONARY ENDOSCOPY
During the symposium onpulmonary endoscopy, also called bronchoscopy, the
progress of endoscopic robotics using electromagnetic guidance was admired, illustrated by Professor Pietro
Valdastri, an Italian who works at University of Leeds in the United Kingdom which demonstrated
an equipment that allows performing bronchoscopies guided by robots and artificial intelligence
with thin wires, which try not to cause any disturbance to the patient and at the same time
>they can reach peripheral points of the lung to perform biopsies or treatments with laser and
heat. Valdastri underlined that “for now the robotic colonoscopy is ready which does not cause pain and
does not require anesthesia, while the pulmonary equipment will still take 3-5 years”.
THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH
At the conclusion of PneumoTrieste 2024, the coordinator Marco Confalonieri underlined that “research in medicine is not a luxury, but a necessity for the healthcare systemor which can thus find the
br>solutions for its improvement. However, we must face various challenges: guaranteeing economic resources to finance research, despite economic difficulties and bureaucratic obstacles, and addressing complex ethical issues. However, by overcoming the obstacles” – stated Professor Confalonieri – “these challenges present opportunities for innovation and progress in medical science, improving patient care and developing new diagnostic-therapeutic modalities, which can revolutionize healthcare practices. The rapid growth of technology and data availability also offers opportunities for collaboration between researchers and clinicians to make a personalized medicine approach through research increasingly a reality, with significant improvements in overall health outcomes.” PneumoTrieste 2024 was organized with the patronage of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Asugi, the Italian Society of Pneumology and numerous associations that work in favor of this important medical-scientific sector (Acsi, Amar FVG, Lam Italia, Alfa 1-AT , Amip, Aipo).