An AI healthcare company has announced that its software can more accurately determine the extent of prostate cancer compared to traditional methods used by doctors.
A study conducted by Avenda Health included ten doctors who evaluated 50 prostate cancer cases each. The findings revealed that Avenda’s Unfold AI software achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7% in detecting cancer, while the physicians’ manual assessments ranged from 67.2% to 75.9%.
Collaborating with UCLA Health, the study was published in the Journal of Urology. It further demonstrated that utilizing AI for cancer contouring significantly improved predictions of cancer size, with AI predictions being 45 times more accurate and consistent than those made without AI assistance.
Shyam Natarajan, an assistant adjunct professor of urology, surgery, and bioengineering at UCLA and the study’s senior author, noted that the incorporation of AI assistance enhanced both the accuracy and consistency of doctors’ assessments, leading to greater agreement among them.
Dr. Wayne Brisbane, an assistant professor of urology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, explained that while doctors often use MRIs to gauge tumor size, some tumors can be “MRI-invisible.” In such cases, AI fills the gaps left by traditional imaging methods.
Brisbane emphasized that incorporating AI into cancer treatment could result in more personalized and effective care for patients, better aligning treatments with their specific needs and enhancing the chances of successful outcomes.
Avenda Health’s CEO, Dr. Shyam Natarajan, expressed pride in the validation of this innovation through scientific studies and its recognition by the American Medical Association.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and 1 in 44 will succumb to the disease. The estimates for this year in the United States include 299,010 new prostate cancer cases and 35,250 deaths attributed to the illness.