“Researchers have published the full results of the largest randomized trial of AI cancer screening to date, comparing mammograms read by one radiologist assisted by AI with the standard two-radiologist review. The AI-supported process cut the radiologists’ workload by 44 percent and detected 29 percent more cancers, without additional false positives. Women who received a negative result during their AI-assisted mammogram ended up having 12 percent fewer cancer diagnoses before their next scheduled screening than those in the control group, suggesting that the AI screen missed fewer aggressive cancers,” reports The Doomslayer.
Artificial intelligence (AI)-supported mammography identifies more cancers during screening and reduces the rate of breast cancer diagnosis by 12% in the years following, finds the first randomized controlled trial of its kind involving over 100,000 Swedish women published in The Lancet journal.
The interim safety results of the MASAI trial, published in The Lancet Oncology in 2023 [1], found a 44% reduction in screen-reading workload for radiologists.
Additionally, a different early analysis of the trial published in The Lancet Digital Health [2], found a 29% increase in cancer detection without an increase in false positives.
The full results of the trial, published today, show AI-supported mammography also reduces cancer diagnoses in the years following a breast cancer screening appointment by 12% – a key test of screening program effectiveness.
Lead author Dr Kristina Lång from Lund University, Sweden, says “Our study is the first randomized controlled trial investigating the use of AI in breast cancer screening and the largest to date looking at AI use in cancer screening in general. It finds that AI-supported screening improves the early detection of clinically relevant breast cancers which led to fewer aggressive or advanced cancers diagnosed in between screenings.
“Widely rolling out AI-supported mammography in breast cancer screening programs could help reduce workload pressures amongst radiologists, as well as helping to detect more cancers at an early stage, including those with aggressive subtypes.”
An artificial intelligence algorithm outperforms radiologists in diagnosing prostate cancer from MRI scans, reports Inside Precision Medicine. It also cuts false positive diagnoses in half, according to a study by researchers at Radboud University Medical Center.
The usefulness of artificial intelligence is a reason to fight federal legislation to micromanage AI algorithms, such as legislation described by Stuart Baker at Reason Magazine, which could stifle innovation and increase harmful red tape.
Artificial intelligence is also being used to generate highly-effective antibodies to fight disease. Doctors overseas are using artificial intelligence to detect cases of breast cancer more effectively.
