How AI is helping detect breast cancer

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — According to the Indiana Department of Health from 2016-2020 there were over five thousand cases of breast cancer across the state and out of those were over 800 deaths. Just in 2020 alone, Michigan had over 7,000 cases diagnosed and over 1,400 deaths, according to Vital Statistics of Michigan.

During the pandemic mortality and cancer rates were on the rise due to the shutdown and lack of people visiting hospitals for reasons outside of COVID-19.

Andrew Maidment, Professor of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania says, "You saw a lot more cancers in general after the pandemic because we weren't screening for them. I mean, really, that shows the value of screening, right? That even, like a couple years of not screening, had a market increase in the incidence of cancer and the increase of invasive cancers, which are the harder ones to treat.”

It is recommended that women over the age of 40 get tested yearly for breast cancer. Factors like family history, age, genetics, and even breast density are all factors that put certain people at a higher risk for this invasive disease.

AI has been used to help detect breast cancer for more than two decades, but more recently it has been a second set of eyes for radiologists. From differentiating a benign tumor versus a cancerous one, AI has become a crucial part of this process.

Maidment says, “They're better able to discern between, you know, something that is normal, that might like mimic in breast cancer, then something that's truly a breast cancer. So, the hope would be that we're finding more breast cancers and fewer women must go to biopsy for negative findings, that biopsies are becoming more effective and finding positive findings.”

AI is becoming a part of many hospitals across the nation and beyond detection AI can help monitor treatments as well as assist with recognizing patterns. It also helps those who are more likely to develop this disease, those with dense tissue. Maidment explains, “One of the things we're doing with AI now is to quantify how much dense tissue there is in a woman, and how likely it is that the cancer would be hidden in that sort of breast. And women with a high risk of masking, we're hiding the cancer, they will be recommended to additional screening. So, they would be recommended to MRI or ultrasound. And so, AI is having a role in determining what sort of imaging these women should get.”

Maidment says that AI in the medical field will only continue to grow from here.

Local breast cancer resources:

Breast Cancer - Beacon Health System - South Bend Indiana

Breast Center | Saint Joseph Health System

Medical Group | Trinity Health Michigan

24/7 helpline: Find a Screening Location Near You | Crucial Catch | American Cancer Society

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