Science
Landmark AI Trial Launches In UK After Tech Spots Breast Cancer Years Before It Develops
A ground-breaking trial involving thousands of women from the UK will investigate the potential of AI techniques to detect breast cancer cases earlier.
Nearly 700,000 women in the UK will participate in a trial to see if artificial intelligence (AI) can help detect breast cancer earlier than ever before, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.
The study will be implemented at 30 testing locations equipped with the newest digital screening tools driven by artificial intelligence.
Participation will be extended to women who are already scheduled for routine NHS breast cancer tests.
Together with radiologists, the AI will analyse breast tissue changes that may indicate cancer and, if necessary, refer the patients for additional testing.
If successful, this device might reduce lengthy waiting lists and address the rising cancer rates by freeing up hundreds of doctors.
The initiative, called the EDITH trial (Early Detection using Information Technology in Health), has already been funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) with £11 million.
In an attempt to “transform cancer care, building on the promising potential of cutting-edge innovations to tackle one of the UK’s biggest killers”, experts in the UK are now working on this project.
About 55,000 new cases of breast cancer are identified year, making it the most prevalent cancer in women.
Every three years, women between the ages of 50 and 71 are currently asked for testing.
Every year, the NHS performs over 2.1 million breast cancer screenings, averting nearly 1,300 fatalities.
The UK has “worse for some cancers than some similar nations”, according to Lord Darzi’s recent independent study into the NHS. It is therefore envisaged that novel approaches such as these could significantly impact early detection and treatment.
AI is already demonstrating promise in the diagnosis of cancer, frequently exceeding human physicians in this regard.
An AI system called Mia examined more than 10,000 women’s mammograms in one NHS pilot.
The AI successfully recognised every instance with symptoms and found 11 malignancies that clinicians had overlooked, even though the majority of scans were cancer-free.
“These results are encouraging and help to highlight the exciting potential AI presents for diagnostics,” expressed Royal College of Radiologists President Dr. Katharine Halliday in response to Mia’s good findings.
“There is no question that real-life clinical radiologists are essential and irreplaceable, but a clinical radiologist using insights from validated AI tools will increasingly be a formidable force in patient care.”
AI mammography screening, meanwhile, has been shown to predict breast cancer risk up to six years before a diagnosis in a different research including 116,495 women in Norway.
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