An AI healthcare company has announced that its software can more accurately assess the extent of prostate cancer compared to traditional methods used by doctors.
Avenda Health’s recent study involved ten physicians evaluating 50 different prostate cancer cases each. According to the findings, Avenda’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7% in detecting cancer, while the doctors’ manual assessments ranged from 67.2% to 75.9%.
The study, which was conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, revealed that AI-assisted cancer contouring predictions were 45 times more accurate and consistent than those made without AI.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology, surgery, and bioengineering at UCLA and the senior author of the study, stated that AI assistance improved both the accuracy and consistency of doctors’ evaluations, leading to a greater consensus among them.
Typically, doctors rely on MRI scans to determine tumor sizes, but some tumors can be “MRI-invisible,” according to Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He noted that AI technology could provide valuable support in these challenging cases.
Brisbane emphasized that AI incorporation in cancer treatment may enhance personalized care for patients, allowing for more effective treatment strategies. He remarked that the capabilities of AI can exceed human capabilities.
Avenda Health’s CEO, Dr. Shyam Natarajan, expressed pride in the validation of this innovative technology through studies and recognition by the American Medical Association.
The American Cancer Society estimates that 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, it is projected that there will be 299,010 new prostate cancer cases in the U.S., with 35,250 fatalities attributed to the illness.