Artificial intelligence could soon be used to identify prostate cancer patients suffering from the deadliest form of the disease.
This pioneering computer software would allow doctors to decide which patients to give intensive and specific treatments from the beginning to stop the spread of the disease.
The ambitious project, funded by Prostate Cancer UK, will involve studying blood samples from thousands of patients to detect genetic mutations linked to aggressive cancer.
“With this knowledge, we will develop a model that can predict whether a man’s prostate cancer will be aggressive based on a blood sample,” says Professor Ros Eeles from the Cancer Research Institute.
“This will help doctors overcome significant challenges and could revolutionize the way prostate cancer is diagnosed, treated and managed.”
Prostate Cancer UK is funding artificial intelligence software that will be able to identify men who will suffer from the most severe forms of prostate cancer.
Some men develop aggressive prostate cancer, which can kill within years. Every year, 12,000 men die as a result.
One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK. Each year, around 55,000 men are diagnosed with the disease.
Many cases of slow growth. Some patients live with the condition for more than a decade without symptoms and sometimes without needing treatment.
However, others develop aggressive prostate cancer, which can kill within years. As a result, 12,000 men die each year.
But doctors have no way of knowing which patients’ cancers will become aggressive when diagnosed at an early stage.
Now Professor Eeles and her colleagues say that studying blood samples from men who have undergone radiotherapy will allow them to develop an artificial intelligence model that can predict which men are likely to recur after treatment.
The researchers will then test the accuracy of this software before rolling it out across the NHS.
“When a man receives the horrible (and often unexpected) news that he has prostate cancer, it is important that he immediately receives the appropriate action plan for his specific cancer,” explained Dr. Matthew Hobbs, director of research at Prostate Cancer. UK.
“We’ve invested in this research so that, over time, men and their doctors have more information they need to find and treat the deadliest cancers as quickly as possible.”