“Advances in Medicine in the Last Quarter Century and Predictions About the Future” was the overarching topic that opened the second day of the recent Pri-Med Southwest Conference & Expo in Houston. Among the subjects covered in the wide ranging presentation was cancer screening. Dr. Sanjiv Chopra, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Senior Consultant in Hepatology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, addressed the attendees on the subject, paying particular attention to the topic of screening for colon cancer.
45 Is the New 50
Dr. Chopra began by noting that colonoscopy for colorectal screening is now recommended for patients as young as 45, due to the fact that colon cancer is appearing in younger and younger people. Fortunately, technology is keeping pace with the growing need by offering higher resolution colonoscopes and incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into colon cancer screening, a breakthrough improvement.
“With AI incorporated in colonoscopy, we can pick up 50% more polyps than the most seasoned gastroenterologists can identify,” Dr. Chopra said. “And, AI can look at the polyp and say, ‘this is hyperplastic. Leave it alone. Don’t even biopsy it’.”
The introduction of AI provides cost savings, as well as diagnostic accuracy, Dr. Chopra noted.
“When we biopsy a polyp and submit it to pathology, often the fee per polyp is $250.”
Find It and Cure It
Today, colonoscope and polypectomy can actually essentially cure someone of colon cancer via a quick outpatient procedure, Dr. Chopra said.
“If there’s an adenomatous polyp on a stalk and cancer at the tip but not invading the stalk, and we remove that polyp, we’ve cured the patient of colon cancer,.” Dr. Chopra said.
Beyond Colonoscopies
In the not-too-distant future, AI will be incorporated into mammograms, CT scans, MRIs, and many other diagnostic and screening procedures. To illustrate the potential impact, Dr. Chopra shared this story on the capability of Watson, IBM’s cognitive supercomputer, on cancer diagnosis and treatment:
“In 99% of cases, Watson recommended the same treatment as experienced oncologists,” Chopra said. “In 30% of cases,” Chopra added, “Watson also found a treatment option that the oncologists had missed. This was at MD Anderson.
How did the supercomputer outperform the oncologists in choosing a treatment?
“Some treatments were based on research papers that the doctors had not yet read,” Chopra said, adding that more than 160,000 research papers are published in the field of oncology every year.
Radiologists to See Biggest Impact
“I think it’s not too provocative to say that radiologists will be affected the most,” Dr. Chopra said. “If a medical student talks to me and says, ‘I think I’m going into radiology. I like it,’ I would discourage them,” Dr. Chopra said. “I think when it comes to mammograms, MRIs, and CTs, AI will do a better job.”