A healthcare technology company, Avenda Health, claims that its AI software demonstrates a higher accuracy in detecting the extent of prostate cancer compared to traditional methods used by doctors.
In a recent study involving ten physicians who evaluated 50 different prostate cancer cases each, Avenda’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7%. In contrast, the manual assessments by doctors ranged from 67.2% to 75.9%.
The study, conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, revealed that AI-assisted cancer contouring significantly improved the precision of predicting cancer size, showing a 45-fold increase in accuracy and consistency compared to traditional methods.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor at UCLA and the study’s senior author, commented on the findings, stating that the incorporation of AI led to increased accuracy and consistency among physicians, resulting in more agreement in diagnoses when assisted by AI.
Doctors typically utilize MRI scans to determine tumor sizes; however, some tumors remain undetectable on MRIs. Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, noted that AI technology is particularly useful in these cases where MRI falls short.
Brisbane emphasized that AI’s implementation in cancer care could lead to more effective and personalized treatment strategies, tailored to meet individual patient needs, ultimately enhancing the chances of combating the disease. He remarked that AI has the potential to exceed human capabilities in certain aspects.
Dr. Natarajan, the CEO of Avenda Health, expressed optimism about the validation of such innovations through research and their acknowledgment by the American Medical Association (AMA).
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately one in eight men in the U.S. will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, with one in 44 men succumbing to the illness. This year alone, it is estimated that there will be 299,010 new cases of prostate cancer and 35,250 related deaths in the United States.