An AI healthcare firm claims its software can detect the extent of prostate cancer with greater accuracy than traditional methods used by doctors.
Last month, Avenda Health published a study involving ten physicians who evaluated 50 distinct prostate cancer cases. The company’s Unfold AI software achieved a detection accuracy of 84.7%, while the doctors’ manual assessments ranged from 67.2% to 75.9%.
Conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and featured in the Journal of Urology, the study revealed that using AI for cancer contouring resulted in size predictions being 45 times more accurate and consistent compared to evaluations made without AI.
Shyam Natarajan, assistant adjunct professor of urology, surgery, and bioengineering at UCLA and senior author of the study, stated, “The integration of AI assistance resulted in increased accuracy and consistency among doctors, leading to a greater consensus in their evaluations.”
Typically, physicians utilize MRIs to determine tumor size; however, some tumors may be “MRI-invisible,” explained Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He emphasized that AI can provide support in situations where MRIs do not suffice.
“Utilizing AI in cancer treatment could enhance personalized care for patients, resulting in treatments that are more effectively aligned with their specific needs and more successful in combating the disease,” Brisbane remarked, adding that AI has the potential to surpass human capabilities.
Dr. Shyam Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health, noted it is encouraging 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 U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and 1 in 44 will succumb to the disease. This year, an estimated 299,010 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S., with 35,250 fatalities expected.