An AI healthcare company claims that its software can more accurately assess the extent of prostate cancer compared to traditional methods used by doctors.
Avenda Health recently published a study involving ten medical practitioners, each evaluating 50 prostate cancer cases. The company’s AI software, called Unfold AI, achieved an accuracy rate of 84.7% in detecting cancer. In contrast, the doctors’ performance ranged from 67.2% to 75.9%.
The research, conducted alongside UCLA Health and featured in the Journal of Urology, revealed that when AI was utilized for cancer contouring, the predictions regarding tumor size were 45 times more accurate and consistent than when done manually.
Shyam Natarajan, assistant adjunct professor of urology, surgery, and bioengineering at UCLA and the study’s senior author, noted, “The use of AI assistance increased both the accuracy and consistency of the doctors’ assessments, resulting in greater agreement among them.”
Typically, doctors employ MRIs to determine tumor size; however, some tumors are not visible through this imaging technique. Dr. Wayne Brisbane, assistant professor of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, emphasized that AI can provide critical support in these challenging cases.
Brisbane remarked, “The incorporation of AI in cancer treatment could foster more effective and tailored healthcare solutions, streamlining therapies to align with patients’ unique needs and enhancing success rates in battling the disease.” He added that AI has the potential to surpass human capabilities.
Dr. Shyam Natarajan, CEO of Avenda Health, expressed that it is “empowering for physicians to witness such innovations being validated through clinical studies and recognized by the AMA.”
According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 in 8 men in the US will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lives, and 1 in 44 will succumb to the illness. In 2023, it is estimated that there will be 299,010 new prostate cancer diagnoses in the US, with approximately 35,250 fatalities from the disease.