An artificial intelligence healthcare firm claims its software can more accurately assess the extent of prostate cancer compared to human doctors.
Avenda Health conducted a study involving ten physicians who evaluated 50 different prostate cancer cases. The company’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7% in cancer detection, whereas the doctors’ manual assessments ranged from 67.2% to 75.9% accuracy.
The research, conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, also revealed that AI-assisted cancer contouring provided predictions about tumor size that were 45 times more accurate and consistent.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor at UCLA and senior author of the study, remarked that the incorporation of AI assistance enhanced both the accuracy and consistency of the doctors’ evaluations, leading to greater agreement among them when utilizing AI.
While physicians typically rely on MRIs to gauge tumor size, some tumors remain “MRI-invisible,” according to Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. He emphasized that AI fills the gaps left by MRIs.
Brisbane noted, “The use of AI in cancer treatment could result in more effective and personalized care for patients, enabling treatments that are better aligned with their individual needs and more effective in combating the disease.” He stated that AI has the potential to surpass human capabilities.
Dr. Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health, expressed that it is “empowering for physicians to see this kind of innovation being validated through studies and recognized by the AMA.”
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and 1 in 44 men will succumb to the disease. It is projected that there will be 299,010 new prostate cancer cases in the U.S. this year, with 35,250 resulting in fatalities.