AI Improves Breast Cancer Detection. But Will That Save Lives?
Radiologists can benefit from technology that flags risky mammograms, but it will take more to confirm that patients benefit.
Time to take a look.
Photographer: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty ImagesA large, rigorous study in Sweden of artificial intelligence in breast cancer screenings suggests AI can help doctors detect cancers more efficiently. We need more such studies to determine when the technology has real value — and when it might have risks. And although the findings are incredibly promising, because Europe uses different processes and technologies for cancer screening, the US needs to commit to running its own similar studies to guide doctors here.
Previous large studies all looked back at old medical records to gauge whether AI was capable of detecting cancers as accurately as doctors. This study is the first trial of its size to test AI in real time on real patients — and will one day tell the field whether it actually improves the health of women. All of this is critical information as the technology increasingly becomes integrated into health care.