An AI healthcare firm has announced that its software can more accurately identify the extent of prostate cancer compared to human doctors.
Avenda Health conducted a study involving ten physicians who analyzed 50 different cases of prostate cancer. The company’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7%, while the doctors’ manual assessments varied between 67.2% and 75.9%.
The research, conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, revealed that when physicians utilized AI for cancer contouring, they were able to predict tumor sizes with 45 times greater accuracy compared to traditional methods.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology at UCLA and the study’s senior author, noted that AI assistance not only improved the accuracy of diagnoses but also led to greater consistency among doctors’ assessments. This means that doctors were more likely to reach similar conclusions when using AI.
While doctors typically rely on MRIs to gauge tumor sizes, some tumors remain undetectable through this method. Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at UCLA, stated that AI can fill the gaps where MRIs are inadequate.
Brisbane emphasized that the integration of AI into cancer treatment could enhance personalized care, leading to therapies that are more effectively tailored to the unique needs of patients and improving treatment outcomes.
Avenda Health’s CEO, Dr. Shyam Natarajan, expressed that it is encouraging for medical professionals to see such innovations being validated through research and acknowledged by the American Medical Association.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately one in eight men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lives, and one in 44 men will succumb to the disease. This year, it is estimated that there will be 299,010 new prostate cancer cases in the US, with 35,250 anticipated fatalities.