Avenda Health, an AI healthcare company, claims its software can detect prostate cancer more accurately than human doctors. A recent study conducted by the company, which involved ten physicians assessing 50 prostate cancer cases each, revealed that Avenda’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7%. In comparison, the doctors demonstrated an accuracy range between 67.2% and 75.9% when diagnosing cancer manually.
The study, carried out in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, also highlighted that AI-assisted cancer contouring led to predictions of cancer size that were 45 times more accurate and consistent compared to assessments without AI.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology and the study’s senior author, noted that AI assistance enhanced both the accuracy and consistency of doctors’ evaluations, resulting in greater agreement among physicians when using AI tools.
Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor at UCLA, emphasized that while doctors typically rely on MRIs to gauge tumor size, some tumors remain “MRI-invisible.” He stated that AI technology effectively addresses these challenges. “The integration of AI into cancer treatment could facilitate more personalized care, leading to improved, tailored treatments for patients,” he added.
Avenda Health’s CEO, Dr. Natarajan, expressed enthusiasm for the validation and recognition of such innovations within the medical community, including acknowledgment from the American Medical Association (AMA).
According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 in 8 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, with a mortality rate of 1 in 44. This year alone, it is estimated that there will be 299,010 new cases of prostate cancer, resulting in 35,250 deaths from the disease.