AI is Found to be Twice as Accurate as a Biopsy at Grading Aggressiveness of Certain Sarcomas

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is taking over the world right now with its bewildering power. According to The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and The Institute of Cancer Research, AI is found to be two times as accurate as a biopsy at grading aggressiveness of certain sarcomas.

The study’s findings, published in The Lancet Oncology, point to the possibility that a novel AI algorithm could assist in more precisely and successfully customizing the therapy of some sarcoma patients than an invasive biopsy (presently the norm).

One kind of cancer that appears in the body’s connective tissues — such as muscles, fat, nerves, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels — is called soft tissue sarcoma. It is an uncommon kind of cancer with more than 50 variants and 4,295 cases reported annually in England. This study concentrated on retroperitoneal sarcoma, a soft tissue sarcoma that forms at the back of the abdomen and is currently difficult to diagnose and treat because of its uncommon location.

Creating an Algorithm for the AI model was quite a roller-coaster ride. Researchers had to use CT scans of 17- patients who had been treated at The Royal Marsden with the 2 most common forms of sarcoma, leiomyosarcoma and liposarcoma, which then had to be tested on 90 different patients.

“The model accurately graded the risk — how aggressive a tumour is likely to be — of 82 per cent of the tumours analysed, while only 44 per cent were correctly graded using a biopsy.

The model also accurately predicted the disease type of 84 per cent of the sarcomas tested — meaning it can effectively differentiate between leiomyosarcoma and liposarcoma — compared with radiologists who were not able to diagnose 35 per cent of the cases. “

This kind of technology has the potential to transform the lives of people with sarcoma — enabling personalised treatment plans tailored to the specific biology of their cancer. It’s great to see such promising findings.

Source: Press Release. Institute of Cancer Research. “AI twice as accurate as a biopsy at grading aggressiveness of some sarcomas”. https://www.icr.ac.uk/news-archive/ai-twice-as-accurate-as-a-biopsy-at-grading-aggressiveness-of-some-sarcomas#:~:text=Due%20to%20the%20rarity%20of,and%20more%20effectively%20personalised%20treatment. 01/11/2023. [Date of access: 21/11/2023]