AI Mammograms Can Predict Breast Cancer Risk

NEED TO KNOW

• A new AI tool can “learn the patterns in a mammogram” to determine if a woman will develop breast cancer in the next five years

• The software, Clairity Breast, generates a “risk score” of the probability of cancer

• While it’s a valuable tool, as one expert cautioned, “it doesn’t catch everybody who will get cancer in the next five years”

A new AI-powered analysis of a woman’s mammogram can predict her risk of breast cancer — years before it develops.

The technology, called Clairity Breast, generates a “risk score” of the probability of cancer in the next five years, just by looking at two scans of the right breast, and two scans of the left breast. Since 85% of women who get breast cancer do not have a family history or genetic mutation, it can be a valuable tool in helping women determine if they will need additional testing.

“The computer can learn the patterns in a mammogram in a woman that will develop breast cancer in the next five years and distinguish those from women that will not,” Dr. Connie Lehman, founder of Clairity and a diagnostic radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, explained during an Oct. 22 appearance on NBC’s Today.

And as Dr. Elisa Port, Chief of Breast Surgery at Mount Sinai Health, told the outlet, it’s not looking for cancer at the moment. But, “I think if we can get information about risk, which is a totally different conversation, of course it’s worth it to do it earlier.”

However, it should be used with some measure of caution, Dr. Laurie Margolies, Vice Chair of Breast Imaging for the Mount Sinai Health Service told Today.

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“This tool is great, and it should be used appropriately, meaning it indicates people who are at high risk,” Dr. Margolies said. “It doesn’t catch everybody who will get cancer in the next five years. So we have to be careful that people don’t over-rely on it.”

Right now, Clairity is working on getting insurance to cover the test. “We really believe that this test for women absolutely can be offered for less than $200,” Lehman told the outlet, sharing that she hopes it’s widely offered to all women when they get their mammograms: “We’re really going to change the face of breast cancer.”

Read the original article on People