Here’s How Artificial Intelligence is Supporting the Fight Against Cancer

Breast cancer death rates have declined 44% since 1989, even as diagnosis rates continue to rise 1% each year. Early and routine screening, targeted therapies and lifesaving drugs have all helped improve outcomes—and now AI is enhancing every aspect of cancer care.

One area where AI is making a significant impact is screening, especially in healthcare deserts. “One of the limiting steps is having enough radiologists to evaluate mammograms, especially in rural communities,” says Dr. Shanthi Sivendran, interim Chief Patient Officer for Cancer Care Support at the American Cancer Society and a practicing oncologist at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health. Mammograms are typically reviewed by two radiologists; in communities where there are too few doctors, AI can read the mammogram as a first pass, with a radiologist double-checking their assessment. “It’s using AI to augment the workforce,” she says.

AI can also aid in risk assessment, which can help doctors and patients determine if they need supplemental or more frequent imaging. “It’s not just about screening,” Dr. Sivendran says, “but getting more personalized with our screening.”
Dr. Sivendran leads ACS Access to Clinical Trials and Support (ACTS), which helps people with cancer, caregivers and healthcare providers find clinical trials and treatment options. “We know that clinical trials are a way to get cancer innovation to patients,” she says. “But they can often be hard to find.”

Historically, doctors would manually search a government website to find potential clinical trials for patients—a very lengthy process. Now, ACS ACTS partners with Massive Bio, provider of AI-driven personalized clinical trial matching, which results in a comprehensive set of matches faster.

Dr. Sivendran says she recently saw a patient in clinic who went from discussing clinical trials to being evaluated for one in a 10-day time span. “Prior to that,” she says, “it would have taken me 10 days to go through the government site alone.”

To learn more, visit cancer.org/acts.