A recent study by Avenda Health indicates that its AI-driven software can detect prostate cancer with greater accuracy than human doctors. The research involved ten physicians who evaluated 50 cases of prostate cancer. Avenda’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7%, surpassing the manual detection rates of the doctors, which ranged from 67.2% to 75.9%.
Conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, the study highlighted that AI assistance significantly improved both the accuracy and consistency of cancer size predictions—being 45 times more precise when using AI compared to traditional methods.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor at UCLA and the senior author of the study, noted that the integration of AI led to more agreement among doctors in their assessments. Traditional imaging methods, such as MRIs, can sometimes miss certain tumors that are “MRI-invisible,” which is where AI proves beneficial.
Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor at UCLA, emphasized that the use of AI in cancer treatment could enhance personalized care, tailoring treatments to meet patients’ unique needs and improving outcomes in battling the disease. He stated that AI’s capabilities could surpass those of humans.
Avenda Health’s CEO, Dr. Shyam Natarajan, expressed optimism in witnessing innovations being validated through research and recognized by professional organizations like the AMA.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, with the disease responsible for 1 in 44 male fatalities. This year, an estimated 299,010 new cases of prostate cancer are expected in the US, with 35,250 deaths attributed to the condition.