An AI healthcare company claims its software can more accurately evaluate the extent of prostate cancer than traditional methods used by doctors.
Avenda Health conducted a study last month involving ten doctors who each evaluated 50 prostate cancer cases. The company’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7% in detecting cancer, while the doctors’ manual assessments ranged from 67.2% to 75.9% accuracy.
The research, conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, also highlighted that utilizing AI for cancer contouring resulted in predictions of tumor size that were 45 times more precise and consistent compared to those made without AI assistance.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology, surgery, and bioengineering at UCLA and senior author of the study, noted that the incorporation of AI not only improved the accuracy of diagnoses but also enhanced consistency among doctors’ evaluations.
Typically, doctors rely on MRIs to determine tumor dimensions; however, some tumors are not visible on MRI scans. Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, explained that AI can fill the gaps where MRIs are inadequate. He emphasized that the integration of AI in cancer treatment could facilitate more effective and personalized patient care, allowing for treatments that cater specifically to individual needs.
Avenda Health’s CEO, Dr. Shyam Natarajan, expressed that it is encouraging for physicians to witness the validation of such innovations through research acknowledged by the American Medical Association.
In the United States, approximately 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime, and 1 in 44 are expected to succumb to the disease, as reported by the American Cancer Society. This year, it is anticipated that there will be 299,010 new cases of prostate cancer in the U.S., with an estimated 35,250 fatalities resulting from the disease.