Some 80% of men do not die of prostate cancer but they do die with it. For 5% of men who are diagnosed, prostate cancer is fatal. Every year, 11,700 men in the Netherlands alone receive this diagnosis and 3,000 of them, die from this disease. So, just in this relatively small country, prostate cancer claims the lives of 8 men each day. 'The Lancet' predicts that the number of diagnoses worldwide will double before 2040. The number of fatalities will see an 85% rise.
A proper and timely diagnosis can save lives. But making such a diagnosis is not easy. Not even for specialists. The good news: it is a slow-growing tumor, and the chances of a complete cure are excellent.
Detection and treatment
The first problem lies in detecting prostate cancer. Screenings almost always come back positive, and the gold standard for getting more a comprehensive diagnosis is a biopsy, which allows a doctor to get a limited number of samples that too often prove not to be enough. The second problem is devising the right treatment. In cases where the tumor grows slowly or seems benign, doctors can choose not to intervene, but to monitor instead. But such tumors can still wreak havoc on men’s intestines and cause issues that negatively impact their sex lives. When a tumor needs to be removed, surgery is needed. But such a procedure often is too much of a burden for older men with a less favorable diagnosis.
Algorithms to the rescue
Assistant professor Dr. Simona Turco works in the Biomedical Diagnostics Research Lab. There, she conducts research into better diagnosis with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). She uses algorithms to analyze patients' scans, and these get ‘smarter’ with each analysis. In the past few years, Simona has started testing her system. Together with specialists at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, she compared the findings of her AI with the results of internal examinations. The results give her confidence that in the future doctors and AI can jointly detect prostate cancer in time, without invasive procedures and get a solid diagnosis. Moreover, the more accurate the diagnosis, the more tailored and targeted the treatment plan will be.
With an ageing population, more men will fall victim to this type of cancer. The article in 'The Lancet' makes it very clear that a solution like this is not a luxury, but a necessity to help men worldwide live longer in good health.