Avenda Health, an AI healthcare company, claims that its software can detect prostate cancer more accurately than physicians.
In a recent study conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health, ten doctors evaluated 50 different prostate cancer cases. The findings revealed that Avenda’s Unfold AI software identified cancer with an accuracy of 84.7%. In comparison, the doctors who independently assessed the cases achieved accuracy rates ranging from 67.2% to 75.9%.
This study, published in the Journal of Urology, also highlighted that the integration of AI in cancer contouring significantly enhanced predictions regarding tumor size, making them 45 times more precise and consistent than traditional methods.
Shyam Natarajan, assistant adjunct professor at UCLA and the study’s senior author, commented that AI assistance not only improved the accuracy of doctors but also increased the consistency of their evaluations. He noted that physicians exhibited greater agreement when utilizing AI support.
Typically, doctors rely on MRIs to determine tumor sizes; however, some tumors can be “MRI-invisible,” as explained by Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. He emphasized that AI technology aids in cases where MRIs fall short.
Dr. Brisbane stated that leveraging AI in cancer treatment could potentially enhance personalized and effective care, tailored to each patient’s specific needs, ultimately improving treatment outcomes.
Avenda Health CEO Dr. Shyam Natarajan expressed his enthusiasm for the validation of this innovation through rigorous studies and recognition from the American Medical Association.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 8 men in the US will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, with a mortality rate of 1 in 44 from the disease. It is projected that there will be 299,010 new prostate cancer cases in the US this year, resulting in an estimated 35,250 deaths.