AI Spots Breast Cancer Missed by Doctors—Before It’s Too Late (5 minutes reading) 

A new study from UCLA shows that artificial intelligence (AI) could help doctors find breast cancers that are often missed during routine mammograms. These are called interval breast cancers, which grow between regular screenings and are usually harder to treat because they’re found later.

Researchers looked at nearly 185,000 past mammograms and found 148 cases where cancer was missed. They used an AI tool called Transpara to re-analyze the original scans. The AI flagged 76% of the missed cancers and was especially good at spotting ones that were visible but overlooked by radiologists.

Even when the cancer was very subtle or nearly invisible, the AI still caught many of them. For example, it flagged 90% of cases where the cancer was visible but misread, and 69% of cancers that were completely hidden on the scan.

While AI isn’t perfect and sometimes marks the wrong areas, it could act as a helpful second opinion for doctors. The study suggests that using AI in screenings could reduce missed cancers by up to 30%, leading to earlier treatment and better outcomes for patients.

This research is one of the first of its kind in the U.S. and could change how breast cancer is detected in the future. 

source: LINK  

 

Prevention and Screening Save Lives in Five Major Cancer Types

From 1975 to 2020, efforts in prevention and screening helped avoid 4.75 million deaths from breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers. This study by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) shows that these efforts have saved more lives than treatment advances.

Key findings include that smoking cessation prevented 3.45 million deaths from lung cancer. In breast cancer, treatment advances saved most lives, with mammography screening also contributing. Screening and removal of precancerous lesions prevented 160,000 deaths from cervical cancer. Screening and removal of polyps averted 79% of 940,000 deaths from colorectal cancer. PSA testing and treatment advances saved 360,000 lives from prostate cancer.

The study emphasizes the importance of combining prevention, screening, and treatment to reduce cancer death rates. The Biden Cancer Moonshot aims to cut the cancer death rate by 50% by 2047, highlighting the crucial role of prevention and screening efforts.

source: LINK