A new artificial intelligence tool that analyzes vast amounts of medical information, including MRI data, earned recent praise for improving prostate cancer care, according to the authors of a recent study.
Case Western Reserve researchers and a handful of top medical centers teamed up to develop and validate the platform, known as RadClip. They tested it on MRI scans taken from nearly 200 patients treated across the Cleveland Clinic, Mount Sinai Hospital, University Hospitals and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
In addition to accurately predicting the risk of cancer returning, it also spotted subtle differences inside and outside tumor regions on preoperative MRI scans. With further validation, researchers believe RadClip could become a valuable treatment decision tool.
“We’re bringing together and connecting a variety of information, from radiologic scans like MRI to digitized pathology specimen slides and genomic data, for providing a more comprehensive characterization of the disease,” senior author Anant Madabhushi, PhD, director of Case Western’s Center for Computational Imaging and Personalized Diagnostics, said in a statement.
The team also noted their platform outperformed well-known prognostic tools, including Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment scoring and the genomic-based Decipher Prostate Cancer Test.
“Genomic-based tests cost several thousand dollars and involve destructive testing of the tissue,” Madabhushi added Thursday. “Prognostic predictions from an MRI scan provide a non-invasive method for making both short-term and long-term decisions on treatment.”
Among prostate cancer patients undergoing surgery, identifying those who face the highest risk of recurrence and disease-specific mortality is of the utmost importance in determining who may need additional therapy.
The data generated from this AI tool can do just that and help surgeons make important decisions, including how much tissue to remove, while also assisting oncologists in assessing whether a patient will require radiation therapy or chemotherapy.
“This tool can help urologists, oncologists and surgeons create better treatment plans so that their patients can have the most precise treatment,” explained Lin Li, a doctoral student in Case Western Reserve’s Biomedical Engineering Department.
The National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense all provided funding for this project.
Read the entire study published in the January edition of The Lancet’s EBioMedicine journal here.
Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.