A healthcare technology company has announced that its software can more accurately identify the extent of prostate cancer compared to the performance of doctors.
Avenda Health conducted a study involving ten physicians evaluating 50 different prostate cancer cases each. The findings revealed that Avenda’s Unfold AI software detected cancer with an accuracy rate of 84.7%. In contrast, the accuracy of the doctors who assessed the cases manually ranged from 67.2% to 75.9%.
Conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, the study demonstrated that using AI for cancer contouring made predictions about tumor sizes 45 times more precise and consistent compared to assessments made without AI.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology, surgery, and bioengineering at UCLA and senior author of the study, highlighted that AI assistance improved both the accuracy and consistency of the doctors’ assessments, leading to greater consensus among them.
Traditionally, doctors rely on MRI scans to gauge tumor size; however, some tumors are not visible through this method. Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, noted that AI fills the gaps where MRIs fail to provide adequate information.
Brisbane emphasized that the integration of AI in cancer treatment could result in more effective and personalized care, allowing for treatments specifically tailored to patients’ needs. He remarked that AI has the potential to surpass human capabilities in this field.
Dr. Shyam Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health, expressed that it is significant for physicians to witness innovations like this validated through research and acknowledged by the American Medical Association.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 8 men in the U.S. will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, and 1 in 44 men will succumb to the illness. This year, the U.S. is anticipated to see around 299,010 new prostate cancer cases, with an estimated 35,250 deaths attributed to the disease.