How is artificial intelligence rising to the challenge in breast cancer diagnosis?

The scope of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine has been rapidly expanding in recent years. With AI shaping the way clinical research is conducted, it has also opened doors for quicker drug discovery and diagnostic measures. And in the fight against breast cancer in particular, it has emerged as a game-changer in digital pathology.

With over two million new cases of breast cancer every year globally, there is a need to accelerate existing diagnostic methods. According to Nathan Buchbinder, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Proscia, a U.S.-based software company that specializes in AI-powered pathology, AI holds enormous potential in breast cancer diagnosis.

Buchbinder explained that depending on whether a patient is HER2 – an oncogene that is overexpressed in 15–30% of breast cancers – or estrogen receptor (ER) positive or negative, treatment varies. “Making pathology assessments can be challenging, time-consuming, and prone to slight variation in interpretation. AI helps the pathologist to perform a quantitative, near instant, and consistent analysis that can lead to a more precise, personalized diagnosis for the patient,” said Buchbinder.