Chest X-Rays with Artificial Intelligence Catches More Lung Cancer

Lung cancer detection and radiologist performance can get a boost from an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that pinpoints previously un-detected cancers on chest X-rays. In a study published in the Dec. 10 Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging, investigators from Seoul National University Hospital outlined how a commercially available deep-learning algorithm outperformed four thoracic radiologists on both first and second reads. Overall, said the team led by Ju Gang Nam, M.D., the algorithm offered both higher sensitivity and higher specificity, and it improved providers' performance as a seconder reader, leading to significantly improved detection rates. But, to date, the team said, adoption of computer-aided detection with chest X-ray has been slow because many providers still have lingering questions about whether it can perform well enough in clinical practice. To answer that question, Nam's team used an enriched dataset of 50 normal chest X-rays, as well as 168 posteroanterior chest X-rays with lung cancers.