An artificial intelligence healthcare firm has claimed that its software can more accurately identify the extent of prostate cancer compared to medical professionals.
Avenda Health recently published a study in collaboration with UCLA Health that involved ten doctors assessing 50 different prostate cancer cases. The company’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7%, while the physicians, who conducted manual evaluations, ranged from 67.2% to 75.9% accuracy.
The research, featured in the Journal of Urology, also revealed that when AI was utilized for cancer contouring, the size predictions were 45 times more precise and consistent compared to traditional methods.
According to Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology, surgery, and bioengineering at UCLA and the study’s senior author, the integration of AI assistance improved doctors’ accuracy and consistency, fostering greater agreement among them.
Typically, doctors rely on MRIs to determine the size of tumors, but Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, noted that some tumors can be “MRI-invisible.” AI would thus fill the gaps where MRIs fall short.
Brisbane emphasized the potential of AI in cancer care, stating it could lead to more effective and personalized treatment approaches tailored to patients’ unique needs, enhancing success rates against the disease. He remarked that AI could surpass human capabilities.
Avenda Health’s CEO, Dr. Shyam Natarajan, expressed that it is “empowering for physicians” to witness such innovations being validated through research and acknowledged by the American Medical Association.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 8 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetimes, with 1 in 44 expected to succumb to the disease. This year, about 299,010 new prostate cancer cases are projected in the US, with an estimated 35,250 deaths attributed to the illness.