A Harvard Medical School–led research team has developed an AI tool that can reliably tell apart two look-alike cancers found in the brain but with different origins, behaviors, and treatments.

The tool, called PICTURE (Pathology Image Characterization Tool with Uncertainty-aware Rapid Evaluations), distinguished with near-perfect accuracy between glioblastoma — the most common and aggressive brain tumor — and primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL), a rarer cancer often mistaken for glioblastoma. While both can appear in the brain, glioblastoma arises from brain cells, whereas PCNSL develops from immune cells. Their similarities under the microscope often lead to misdiagnosis, with serious consequences for treatment.

The work, supported in part by the National Institutes o

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