Breast biopsies may not have an answer; soon, AI will soon be able to diagnose cancer better

WASHINGTON DC: Researchers discovered an artificial intelligence system that could help pathologists read biopsies more accurately and to better detect and diagnose breast cancer. The new system, described in a study published in the journal'JAMA Network Open,' helped interpret medical images used to diagnose breast cancer that can be difficult for the human eye to classify, and it does so nearly as accurate or better as experienced pathologists. "It is critical to get a correct diagnosis from the beginning so that we can guide patients to the most effective treatments," said Dr. Joann Elmore, the study's senior author and a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. A 2015 study led by Elmore found that pathologists often disagree on the interpretation of breast biopsies, which are performed on millions of women each year. That earlier research revealed that diagnostic errors occurred in about one out of every six women who had ductal carcinoma in situ (a noninvasive type of breast cancer), and that incorrect diagnoses were given in about half of the biopsy cases of breast atypia (abnormal cells that are associated with a higher risk for breast cancer).