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How AI is set to transform cancer care
What if we could get more accurate cancer diagnoses? Or faster, more personalised access to care?
Not only is it possible, but it might be here sooner than you think.
In this first instalment of Dr’s Views on the News, we chatted with our Medical Director, Tim Woodman, about something called digital oncology. By turning to artificial intelligence (AI), clinicians all around the world could have more methods of helping cancer patients than ever before.
“Let’s start from the top, Tim. What is digital oncology?"
Oncology is the study of cancer. Digital oncology just refers to the use of digital technology - like AI - in the field of oncology.
“What difference will it make?”
I know what you’re thinking — this is just something that excites medical professionals like me.
But digital oncology has the potential to help all of us by making the experience of cancer patients better.
They’ll benefit from greater control over their health, like access to 24/7 cancer support and more parts of the care journey being available from the comfort of home. That means less in-person trips to the hospital.
For clinicians, increased automation will help spread out the delivery of services, decreasing pressure and supporting the wider workforce. That’ll be better for our healthcare systems as a whole, too.
“Okay, so where does AI come in?"
If you’re mostly familiar with it through ChatGPT, you might be wondering how AI can help with cancer.
But artificial intelligence is a broad concept. It refers to any technique that allows computers to mimic human intelligence.
A lot of digital oncology solutions will lean heavily on AI. It’ll be really important to the future of cancer care.
We can expect to see it used widely in various forms across the entire healthcare journey, from predicting risks to speeding up treatment.
And the exciting thing is this: it’s only just getting started.
“Could you tell us some of the ways AI will be used?”
- More reliable diagnoses within the next decade
- Predictions for which people are at higher risk of cancer
- The potential to speed up the discovery of new cancer drugs
- A significant impact on our ability to grade and classify tumours
- The ability to detect changes to our biology before we realise it, flagging them with professionals
“Thanks, Tim. Any last thoughts?”
I think digital oncology and AI have the power to transform cancer care.
By making it more connected than ever, high-quality healthcare will become accessible to lots more people.
Faster screenings, personalised treatment, more accurate diagnoses, better patient outcomes — this is something to really look forward to.
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