AI system detects skin cancer with expert accuracy

A team of Stanford researchers trained a computer to identify images of skin cancer moles and lesions as accurately as a dermatologist, according to a new paper published in the journal Nature. In the future, this new research suggests, a simple cell phone app may help patients diagnose a skin cancer -- the most common of all cancers in the United States -- for themselves. "Our objective is to bring the expertise of top-level dermatologists to places where the dermatologist is not available," said Sebastian Thrun, senior author of the new study, founder of research and development lab Google X and an adjunct professor at Stanford University. He added that those who live in developing countries do not have the same level of care as can be found in the US and other industrialized nations. Melanomas represent fewer than 5% of all skin malignancies diagnosed in the US, yet they account for nearly three-quarters of all deaths related to this form of cancer.