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How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
By Raveena M Prakash
Cancer is the biggest health challenge across the world and in India as well. From delayed cancer diagnosis to limited access to personalized, accurate consultation, the cancer journey is highly frustrating and overwhelming. But not anymore! Here's the total game changer! Artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence and cancer: the emergence of AI in healthcare, especially in cancer care, is not a future dream anymore. Artificial intelligence is increasingly used in cancer diagnosis, especially in early detection of cancer, along with offering accurate treatment and prevention that are life-changing to any cancer patients.
In this blog, we’ll discover more about how AI in cancer treatment is used, especially in India, and how it helps cancer patients and healthcare providers.
Artificial Intelligence in Oncology
Artificial intelligence is used to analyze scans faster and with high accuracy, helping cancer specialists to recognize the cancer earlier. There is a huge discovery and innovation happening in the area of artificial intelligence in oncology. The recent research conducted by the Mayo Clinic developed a new AI-based tool, which is used to transform cancer diagnosis and treatment personalization.
The innovation of a new AI tool helps to analyze radiology scans and genomic data. This is used to improve precision and accuracy in detecting cancer and predicting the patient’s treatment outcomes. This tool can recognize what is often missed during a conventional diagnosis, eventually improving early cancer detection and the precision of treatment plans.
Early and accurate cancer diagnosis
One of the biggest challenges in cancer treatment is detecting cancer late. But if the cancer is detected earlier, it can be a treatable and manageable disease. With the incorporation of AI tools, cancer can be diagnosed early with an increased accuracy.
These may include:
Medical imaging in oncology:
Machine learning algorithms are now analyzing imaging tests such as CT scans, MRIs, mammograms, and X-rays with precision when compared to sometimes exceptionally experienced radiologist technicians.
Pathology:
AI systems and tools are now used to analyze the biopsy samples, which often helps to identify cancerous cells in suspected patients with extreme accuracy. It reduces the mistakes regarding the diagnosis and helps to speed up the treatment and further procedures in people.
Automated detection of cancer screening:
AI systems are used to improve treatments for different cancers, such as cervical and prostate cancer screening. NCI’s research group and its collaborators developed a learning approach that involves deep learning, used effectively for the automated detection of precancerous lesions with the help of AI’s digital images.
Personalised treatment plans
Advanced AI models analyze patients' genetic profiles, previous medical conditions, and lifestyle data to create more personalized treatment plans.
Genomic Analysis:
AI tools examine the DNA mutations to predict the treatment options, such as immunotherapy or radiation therapy, that work best for each individual by analyzing each patient's genetics. Genomic analysis is used widely for personalized medicine, treatment prediction, and optimizing cancer treatment.
Predictive Analytics:
AI systems can also predict the patient’s treatment outcomes and disease or cancer growth progression and even help the oncologists to adapt more suitable treatments rather than the general treatment approach to cancer.
Both of these treatment approaches are hyper-customized, which not only boosts the chances of remission in people but also reduces the side effects from some ineffective treatments.
New drug discovery and treatment
Developing a new cancer drug is conventionally slow and quite expensive. Sometimes a new drug discovery can take decades of time. However, today, with the help of AI, drug discovery is quite accessible. AI tools help to predict the drug response in people.
Molecule screening:
With AI models, it can rapidly screen approximately a billion molecules to identify any potential cancer-fighting drugs.
The new AI-advanced methods are helpful for many researchers to analyze several biological mechanisms of the drug response in patients. Many NCI-supported researchers have developed some predictive AI methods that use some extensive learning to provide a map of common drug pathways.
Monitoring and managing treatments
Cancer surveillance is the current collection of patient information and cancer statistics. AI methods are used to speed up the process of information collection for monitoring and reporting and additionally identify some patterns in the cancer data. AI systems are also used to analyze and prevent cancer recurrence.
However, post-cancer treatment monitoring is essential to prevent cancer recurrence in people. There are some AI devices that make the aftercare more proactive.
These may include:
Wearable devices:
Devices such as smartwatches and biosensors combined with AI tools can track some important signs, which might include the early signs of relapse in patients.
Telemedicine and virtual assistants:
AI chatbots can answer patient queries 24/7 , schedule doctor appointments, and remind patients to take medicines on time, and eventually reduce hospital visits.
The remote monitoring combined with AI’s predictive insights might enable a new era of more accurate, personalized cancer care for patients.
Overcoming health challenges
Access to high-quality cancer treatment is still considered a global concern. However, artificial intelligence has the potential to bridge the gap. Even so, there is a need for randomized clinical trials to authenticate and validate applications of AI and machine learning technologies in clinical practice.
Challenges and ethical considerations
Artificial intelligence and cancer treatments might continuously emerge. However, there are some limitations and ethical dilemmas associated with them.
Here are some of the challenges and ethical considerations associated with AI. These may include:
Data privacy:
This is one of the major concerns of artificial intelligence: data privacy and security. Many patients’ personal data are usually collected, stored, used, and mostly sold without their permission. Data privacy and security are considered the major ethical challenges and considerations of AI.
Reliability and scalability:
AI is an innovative science, but it’s closely connected to the internet. There is an immense scope for mass adoption of AI in future cancer treatments. However, there is a huge risk of facing obstacles in interoperability and data quality refinement as well.
Social impact:
Artificial intelligence often comes with bias and fairness issues, which can arise from AI-based treatments. Most importantly, AI can go wrong sometimes; this often leads to inaccurate diagnoses or wrong predictions on patients’ treatment plans.
The future of AI and cancer care
The future of artificial intelligence and cancer treatments looks highly promising. As AI continues to emerge in the health care sector, especially in cancer care, when AI improves and learns, this can become a more integral component for fighting cancer. Incorporating AI in cancer care often results in earlier detection, efficient treatment approaches, and better outcomes.
Consult Today
Artificial intelligence in cancer treatment represents a phenomenal change in the landscape of cancer care. AI is not just a tool, but it's a revolution in cancer treatment. This enables early cancer diagnosis and personalized treatment and medication processes. Additionally, the cancer drug discovery. The integration of AI into oncology is not only about speeding up the treatment process, but it also helps people understand and detect the complexities of these serious medical conditions.
If you or any loved ones of yours are seeking any guidance regarding cancer treatments, then visit Oncare’s website and book an appointment with our experienced cancer specialists.
Get an estimated cost of your cancer treatments and take charge of your health without wasting time!
Frequently Asked Questions
Prevention and early diagnosis of cancer are the two powerful components we can use to fight the cancer. However, prevention is more complex than early diagnosis of cancer. But with the emergence of AI tools, people with more risk factors and symptoms can often detect cancer. Meanwhile, people who already have risk factors or are in a high-chance group can prevent this disease with several screening tests, along with modifying some lifestyle factors and choices to slow down the growth of cancer in people.
One of the most promising parts of diagnosing cancer is that it can be trained to scan tests such as imaging tests, CT scans, and MRIs to identify potential tumor-like growths in people with incredible accuracy. If artificial intelligence grows substantially, this might potentially help technicians such as radiologists and oncologists who can perform a more accurate examination of the suspected area.
One of the major research centers, popularly known as NCI research, uses AI across the spectrum of cancer research and care, including several mechanisms of cancer, cancer screening and diagnosis, major drug discovery, cancer surveillance and monitoring, and other health care services.