AI could spare thousands of men with prostate cancer unnecessary treatment and side-effects
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AI could save thousands of men with prostate cancer unnecessary treatments and side effects by discovering that hormone therapy would not help
- AI looks at biological patterns in cancer cells to see if hormone therapy is needed
- Doctors now know that hormone therapy, which has side effects, only helps some men
- AI says 60 percent of prescribed hormone therapy should not get it
Advances in AI could save thousands of men unnecessary treatments and side effects.
Men with prostate cancer who have an average risk of metastasis with radiation are now offered hormone therapy at the same time for six months to three years.
But AI, which looks for biological patterns in the cancer cells taken from individual men’s biopsies at the time of diagnosis, can identify those who would not benefit from hormone therapy.
This could protect men from the side effects of hormone therapy, including fatigue, hot flashes, decreased muscle strength, weight gain around the waist, and changes in their sex life, such as low libido or trouble getting an erection.
Doctors now know that hormone therapy, which starves tumors of the male sex hormones that fuel them, only helps some men.
The AI suggests that 60 percent of those currently prescribed hormone therapy should not receive it
While side effects vary and may improve over time, and while men can get help coping, many still struggle with them.
The AI suggests that 60 percent of those currently prescribed hormone therapy should not receive it.
The radiotherapy alone is enough to cure these men, without adding to the treatment they receive and costing the NHS extra money.
The AI tool used to save men with localized prostate cancer from hormone therapy was developed by a US-based company called ArteraAI and is backed by Prostate Cancer UK.
Prostate Cancer UK research director Dr Matthew Hobbs said: ‘This tool can make a huge difference for men.
‘We know that the side effects associated with hormone therapy – a treatment that completely suppresses testosterone – are varied, extremely difficult to live with and can persist for a very long time even after the treatment has ended.
The AI tool used to save men with localized prostate cancer from hormone therapy has been developed by a US-based company called ArteraAI and is backed by Prostate Cancer UK
‘Men with prostate cancer regularly tell us about the extremely negative impact of this treatment on their quality of life. For men who need it, hormone therapy is a life-saving treatment, and the trade-off is worth it, but this tool tells us that many thousands of men are currently unnecessarily suffering from these side effects.
‘Implementing this tool in the NHS could significantly reduce the damage caused by prostate cancer.
“The results we have seen are extremely impressive and, based on multiple high-quality academic studies with long follow-ups, robust and credible.
“We know the company is eager to bring this tool to the NHS and hope that individual NHS trusts, as well as system-wide decision-makers, will work with them to remove any barriers and deliver this benefit to men as quickly as possible.”