An AI healthcare company claims that its software can identify the extent of prostate cancer more precisely than medical professionals.
Avenda Health conducted a study in which ten doctors evaluated 50 distinct prostate cancer cases. Their Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7% in detecting cancer, whereas the physicians’ manual assessments ranged from 67.2% to 75.9%.
This study, a collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, also highlighted that cancer size predictions were 45 times more precise and consistent when assisted by AI compared to traditional methods.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology at UCLA and the study’s senior author, stated, “The use of AI assistance made doctors both more accurate and more consistent, meaning there was greater agreement among doctors when utilizing AI support.”
Doctors often rely on MRI scans to determine tumor size, but some tumors can be “MRI-invisible,” according to Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor at UCLA. He noted that AI serves a crucial role where MRIs fall short.
Brisbane remarked, “The use of AI in cancer treatment could facilitate more effective and personalized patient care, resulting in treatments that are better suited to individual needs and more effective in combating the disease.” He emphasized that AI can “surpass human capabilities.”
Avenda Health’s CEO, Dr. Shyam Natarajan, expressed that it is “empowering for physicians to see this kind of innovation validated through research and recognized by the AMA.”
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 8 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, with 1 in 44 men succumbing to the disease. This year alone, it is estimated that there will be 299,010 new prostate cancer cases in the U.S., resulting in 35,250 deaths.