In 2012, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center launched an ambitious project with International Business Machines Corp. ’s Watson program that promised to transform cancer care with the help of artificial intelligence.

Almost five years and more than $62 million later, the sprawling Houston-based public institution has little to show for it, according to a special review conducted by the University of Texas System Audit Office that details a number of stumbles in the progress and management of the project.

The audit doesn’t evaluate IBM Watson’s scientific capabilities or whether the technology works for this purpose.

Instead, the report details the management and technology challenges at MD Anderson that make it hard to integrate artificial-intelligence software into complicated health-care settings. The Watson-based program isn't in clinical use, according to the audit.

The plan for a pilot focused on leukemia was “suspended mid-project” and the focus shifted to lung cancer to try to speed up progress, according to audit documents.