AI is already changing how cancer is diagnosed
Cancer is a worldwide issue. Statistics show that17 million casesof the disease were diagnosed across the globe last year alone. Depressingly, the same research suggests there will be 27.5 million new cancer cases diagnosed each year by 2040.
Although the stats don’t necessarily spell good news, it’s important to note that diagnosis, treatment, and in turn, patient outcomes have improved significantly. If we look back at the 1970s, less than a quarter of people with the disease survived. Now, more than four decades later, and thanks to technological progress and advancement in fields such as AI, survival in the UK has doubled.
My dad was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in August 2017. As a daughter, I was absolutely devastated, but as a technology journalist and self-confessed control freak, I spent much of his illness desperately researching clinical trials or innovative treatment options that could help him outsmart and beat the disease.
During my dad’s illness, I realized cancer treatment had come on leaps and bounds, but I also came to terms with the fact that while emerging technologies were promising to transform the healthcare industry, much of what my Dad needed to beat the illness was still light years away.
Now, and with the benefit of hindsight, I know that the last thing most people in a similar situation want to do is traipse the deepest corners of the internet in hope of finding a solution, which is actually several years away from coming to fruition.
This is why I’ve decided to focus on readily available AI that’s already having an impact on the ways in which cancer is being diagnosed and treated.
But, before we take a look at how AI is improving cancer care, it’s important to know how, why, and where cancer arises.
All cancers are born in cells inside the human body. In fact, the disease is sparked by changes in one cell or a small group of cells.
Typically, humans have just the right number of each type of cell. This is because cells produce signals to control how much, and how often the cells divide. If any of these signals are faulty or missing, cells may begin to grow and multiply too much, forming a lump (aka tumor).
A primary tumour is where the cancer begins. Other types of cancer, such as leukaemia, start from blood cells and don’t go on to form solid tumors.
All cells have a control center called a nucleus, which is where chromosomes, made up of thousands of genes, reside. Genes contain long strings of DNA – coded messages that determine how each cell behaves.
Each gene is an instruction that tells the cell how to make something. Normally, genes ensure cells grow and reproduce in an orderly, and controlled manner. But, sometimes a change happens in the genes when a cell divides. This is called a mutation, and means a gene has been damaged, lost, or been copied twice.
Gene mutations can happen entirely by chance when a cell is dividing. Some mutations occur when the cell no longer understands its instructions and begins to grow uncontrollably.
Approximately half a dozen different mutations have to take place before a normal cell turns into a cancer cell.
Mutations can also be caused by the processes of life inside a cell or external lifestyle factors, such as the chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Some people can also inherit certain faults in particular genes that will make them more likely to develop cancer during their lifetime.
Thanks to screening programmes, scientific breakthroughs, and technological advances in areas such as genetics, and medical imaging, cancer is much more likely to be diagnosed at a much earlier stage than it was several decades ago.
However, accuracy in medical imaging diagnosis remains low, with professionals seeing 20-30 percent false negatives in chest X-rays and mammographies. False positive diagnosis (wrongly stating that there is a problem) is also common.
