Artificial intelligence could help diagnose lung cancer a year earlier

摘要

2021 SEP 17 (NewsRx) - By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Disease Prevention Daily - An artificial intelligence (Al) program can spot signs of lung cancer on CT scans a year before they can be diagnosed with existing methods, according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress. [1] Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death with around 1.8 million lives lost around the world each year. Lung cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage when treatment is less likely to succeed. Researchers hope that using Al to support lung cancer screening could make the process quicker and more efficient, and ultimately help diagnose more patients at an early stage. Computerised tomography or CT scans are already used to spot signs of lung tumours, followed by a biopsy or surgery to confirm whether the tumour is malignant. But each scan involves an expert radiologist examining around 300 images and looking for signs of cancer that can be very small. Trials using CT scans to screen people with a high risk of lung cancer have shown promise, however screening is hampered by the practical difficulty of a radiologist reviewing each image, one at a time, to decide who needs further tests. The new study was presented by Benoit Audelan, a researcher in the Epione project team of the Inria (France's National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology) centre at Universite Cote d'Azur. He worked with colleagues from the Universite Cote d'Azur, Therapixel (a software company specialising in artificial intelligence for medical imaging) and the University Hospital of Nice.