World Cancer Day: Medical world taps into AI to show malignancies the door
As artificial intelligence enhances precision in cancer detection, risk assessment, and treatment plan, medical experts talk about the applications of AI in improving imaging, pathology, and personalised treatment strategies for various cancers

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CHENNAI: The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is enhancing precision in cancer detection, risk assessment, and treatment plan, while machine learning, a subset of AI, enables computers to analyse vast datasets, identifying patterns that surpass human capabilities.
Oncologists say AI-driven imaging techniques, such as machine-learning-based MRI analysis, improve the accuracy of prostate cancer detection, reducing unnecessary biopsies.
Dr Arvind Krishnamurthy, chief surgical oncologist at the Adyar Cancer Institute stated that radiology and pathology can use AI in cancer screening and diagnostic procedures. "The human eye can sometimes miss the minute details when dealing with multiple reports on a daily basis. However, artificial intelligence simplifies the process."
The Adyar Cancer Institute has undertaken a pilot study to determine the application of artificial intelligence in lung cancer screening.
Dr Arvind added that in the case of lung cancer, artificial intelligence can help identify cancer modules present in patients, which otherwise go unnoticed in conventional screening methods. It can also serve as a support system for clinical decisions with all the information developed as an algorithm, and AI can suggest the clinical treatment options in cancer care."
Oncologists say the incorporation of AI can help in assisting patient choices and preferences. Besides diagnosis, treatment is also an important place where AI is of immense significance and is being utilised successfully in several hospitals.
Senior oncologist at Apollo Hospitals Dr Anitha Ramesh said AI integration is used by many hospitals for determining the stage of cancer, surgery options, determining chemotherapy, effects of treatment and other related factors in cancer care. Additionally, AI applications are beneficial for research purposes as one can work in the right direction."
The state health department now plans to introduce AI in cancer screening programmes in Tamil Nadu. "Artificial intelligence can be applied in any screening programme, and it can be incorporated in all the screening tools. We are currently in the discussion stage. There has been a request from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, regarding an oral cancer screening programme," said Dr TS Selvavinayagam, director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.
"AI-based radiomics assists in distinguishing benign from malignant renal masses, minimising unnecessary surgeries in case of renal cancer. It also helps in early detection of bladder tumours by improving visualisation and reducing false negatives. Machine learning also aids in predicting disease recurrence and response to treatments like intravesical therapy," said Dr Arun Kumar Balakrishnan, managing director Chief Consultant Urologist, Robotic surgeon and Uro Oncologist at the Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology.
He added that by analysing molecular markers, AI facilitates precision medicine, optimise therapeutic outcomes. AI-driven robotic surgery will continue to evolve, enhancing precision and reducing complications. Furthermore, AI-assisted clinical decision support systems will streamline treatment planning, improving patient outcomes.
The scope of AI in cancer, understanding of the biology of cancer, cancer screening, cancer detection and diagnosis, drug discovery, cancer surveillance, cancer prognosis, and healthcare delivery:
1. Understanding Cancer Biology: Artificial intelligence has the potential of taking advantage of large language models to develop new computational tools from the vast body of scientific literature in an attempt to improve our understanding of cancer pathophysiology and cancer biology.
2. Screening and Diagnosis: Artificial intelligence has been extensively studied in areas of cancer screening and cancer detection in radiology and pathology, respectively. Efforts are on to incorporate AI in cervical and prostate cancer screening as well.
3. Drug Discovery: AI is being used to develop novel approaches to drug discovery and design, drug repurposing, and in predicting patient responses to treatment.
4. Personalised Treatment Planning: AI can help create personalised treatment plans by taking into consideration the patient's unique medical history and genetic makeup. It can also help in prediction response to drugs/drug combinations.
5. Predicting Survival Outcomes: AI algorithms can help predict survival outcomes of advanced cancers.
6. Cancer surveillance relates to collection of patient information and cancer statistics. AI methods are being used to accelerate information extraction for surveillance reporting and to identify patterns in population-level cancer data. This data can help researchers better understand social determinants of health that may be critical for preventing, detecting, and treating cancer.
7. Improved Access to Cancer care: With the emergence of chatbots, cancer researchers are probing whether AI technology aided chatbots can provide patients with tailored cancer information and help draft physician responses to patient queries.
Inputs by Dr Arvind Krishnamurthy, Chief Surgical Oncologist at Adyar Cancer Institute