An artificial intelligence healthcare company claims that its software is able to detect prostate cancer more accurately than physicians.
In a recent study, Avenda Health reported that its Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7% in identifying cancer, while a group of ten doctors assessing 50 different prostate cancer cases exhibited accuracy rates ranging from 67.2% to 75.9%. This research, conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, demonstrated that AI significantly improves cancer contouring, resulting in cancer size predictions that are 45 times more accurate compared to traditional methods.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology at UCLA and the senior author of the study, noted that the incorporation of AI assistance not only enhanced the accuracy of the doctors’ assessments but also led to a greater consistency in their evaluations.
Doctors typically rely on MRI scans to gauge tumor sizes; however, some tumors are not visible on MRIs. Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, stated that AI can fill the gaps left by MRI limitations. He emphasized that the implementation of AI in cancer management could result in more effective and personalized treatment plans, tailored to better meet the needs of individual patients and improve outcomes against the disease.
Dr. Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health, expressed that it is encouraging for healthcare providers to see such innovations being validated through rigorous studies and acknowledged by the American Medical Association.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 8 men in the United States will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, and 1 in 44 will succumb to the disease. This year alone, an estimated 299,010 new prostate cancer cases are expected to emerge, with 35,250 men projected to die from it.