Artificial intelligence is outpacing doctors in the case of detecting a typical cancer in men.
A latest study from UCLA found that an AI tool identified prostate cancer with 84% accuracy — in comparison with 67% accuracy for cases detected by physicians, in response to a press release from the university.
Unfold AI, made by Avenda Health in California — a software recently cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration — uses an AI algorithm to visualise the likelihood of cancer based on various kinds of clinical data.
Within the study, a team of seven urologists and three radiologists analyzed 50 cases where tumors had been removed, in search of signs of residual cancer.
A couple of months later, the AI software performed the identical evaluation.
The “negative margin rate” — a medical term that describes the absence of cancer cells surrounding the removed tissue — was 45 times greater in AI-detected cases, so the probabilities of cancer being left behind was far less.
Ali Kasraeian, M.D., a urologist at Kasraeian Urology in Jacksonville, Florida, said he uses the Unfold AI technology in his consultations with patients about managing their prostate cancer.
“The AI takes the knowledge that we currently have a couple of patient’s prostate cancer — like their pathology, imaging and biopsy results — and creates a 3D cancer estimation map,” he told Fox News Digital via email.
“The outcomes we get from Unfold AI tell us if a patient might be higher suited to focal therapy or more radical therapy, equivalent to radical prostatectomy, or radiation therapy, ensuring we optimize their cancer cure, the personalization of their cancer care, and their quality of life goals.”
Based on these findings, the AI may lead to more accurate diagnoses and more targeted treatments, reducing the necessity for full-gland removal and the unwanted side effects that may include it, equivalent to incontinence and impotence, the researchers wrote.
Joshua Trachenberg, PhD, is a professor of neurobiology at UCLA — and in addition a prostate cancer patient himself. After doctors found a slow-growing tumor on his prostate, they advisable removing the gland surgically — but he decided to explore other options.
“I got in contact with a team at UCLA, where I also am a school member, that was exploring alternate treatments to total gland removal,” Trachenberg, 56, told Fox News Digital via email.
The UCLA researchers were testing an approach that uses ultrasound to heat tissue and is “focally guided” by MRI to destroy the cancerous tissue without damaging the remainder of the gland, he said.
After some imaging scans, it was determined that Trachenberg was a candidate for the experimental therapy.
“The 3D map created by Unfold AI enabled this team to discover precise margins, goal the cancerous area and avoid any functional structures of the gland,” he said.
“It was truly in a position to visualize my cancer and it gave me a significantly better understanding of my case.”
Trachenberg is now cancer-free and was in a position to avoid a radical prostatectomy.
“So many men are afraid of treatment due to risks related to gland removal, and Unfold AI enables therapies that don’t put men through the meat grinder,” he said.
Such a AI technology gives Trachenberg hope for the long run of prostate cancer treatment, he told Fox News Digital.
“Too often, we’re given only two options: Watch and wait for it to worsen, or take your complete gland out, which frequently leaves men with lifelong unwanted side effects that strain their physical health, emotional health and even their marriages,” he said.
“I might recommend to any prostate cancer patient who’s told they need a radical prostatectomy that they take a while to have a look at all their options, [including] AI technologies.”
Potential risks, limitations
Dr. Harvey Castro, a board-certified emergency medicine physician and national speaker on artificial intelligence based in Dallas, Texas, was not involved in the brand new study but shared his insights on the potential risks related to the technology.
“The accuracy of AI depends heavily on the standard of the information it’s trained on,” he told Fox News Digital. “Poor data can result in inaccurate diagnoses.”
Castro also cautioned against an “overreliance” on AI.
“While AI is a strong tool, it should complement, not replace, the clinical judgment of health care professionals,” he said.
“AI is our latest diagnostic ally,” Castro added. “But like all tool, it really works best in human hands.”
Privacy must also be considered when using this kind of technology, in response to Castro.
“Handling sensitive patient data with AI necessitates stringent data protection measures to keep up patient trust and confidentiality.”
The price of AI technologies will also be a big barrier, added Kasraeian.
“I hope this study encourages us and future payers to make these innovations more accessible to urologists and, most significantly, to our patients.”
