An artificial intelligence healthcare company claims that its software can identify the extent of prostate cancer more accurately than traditional methods used by doctors.
A recent study by Avenda Health involved ten physicians who evaluated 50 prostate cancer cases each. The company’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7% in detecting cancer, whereas the doctors’ manual assessments ranged from 67.2% to 75.9%.
Conducted in collaboration with UCLA Health and published in the Journal of Urology, the study also revealed that utilizing AI for cancer contouring led to predictions of tumor size being 45 times more accurate and consistent compared to non-AI methods.
According to Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology, surgery, and bioengineering at UCLA and senior author of the study, AI assistance enhanced both the accuracy and consistency of the doctors’ assessments, with greater agreement observed when AI was involved.
Typically, doctors rely on MRIs to gauge tumor size, but as explained by Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, some tumors can be “MRI-invisible.” In such cases, AI technology can provide valuable insights.
Dr. Brisbane emphasized that the integration of AI in cancer treatment could lead to more effective, personalized care options for patients, ensuring treatments are better suited to individual requirements and consequently more successful in combating the illness. He noted that AI has the potential to surpass human capabilities.
Avenda Health CEO Dr. Shyam Natarajan 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 in the United States will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, and 1 in 44 will succumb to the disease. It is projected that there will be 299,010 new cases of prostate cancer in the U.S. this year, with 35,250 fatalities expected from the disease.