Introduction
As the world constantly upgrades and adapts to the ever-changing world of technology, the world at which we see cancer should change too, right? Cancer is a disease that causes a certain 'bad cell' to expand at rates that are deadly. These cancer cells can be made up of many different things, and there many forms of cancer; these include thyroid (neck/throat), lung, and breast cancer. To many, cancer is deadly. These cancerous cells are hard to beat and can have lifelong consequences to its victim. However, with the current advancements in technology, can artificial intelligence and machine learning cause any change in cancer and cancer treatments? Let's look into a few types of cancer and how AI (artificial intelligence) is being used.
Pancreatic Cancer
First of all, what even is pancreatic cancer? According to the MayoClinic "Pancreatic cancer is a type of cancer that begins as a growth of cells in the pancreas. The pancreas lies behind the lower part of the stomach. It makes enzymes that help digest food and hormones that help manage blood sugar." In other words, it is an insanely vital portion to the human body and disfunction of this organ will be deadly. So, how has AI changed this? Well, for most patients, Pancreatic cancer isn't spotted in the early stages and is detected at a stage that is too late to remove. However, certain scientists, Eva Zinreich and Richard Harris have come together in order to program the AI to detect healthy and unhealthy pancreas. According to them "they've done this painstaking work for about 1,000 healthy volunteers and they're now approaching 1,000 images that have pancreatic tumors." Hopefully, in the near future, we can see this device really taking off and seeing benefits to patients with Pancreatic cancer.
Thyroid Cancer
Thryoid cancer is a cancer that is developed in the throat, and can leave-lasting effects on a persons voice and ability to talk. We all love to talk, right? It wouldn't be so fun to lose that ability. A system known as the CAD, or computer-aided diagnosis, has been proven to a be an efficient and low-cost machine in the field of Thyroid Cancer. A study published in the MDPI have found out that "[t]hese systems, renowned for enhancing diagnostic accuracy and reducing interpretation time." Not only that, but like the Pancreatic cancer, they are currently working on ways to scan for signs of cancer before it is too late. They work with ultrasound and machine learning to scan patients in order to search for early signs of deadly thyroid cancer.
Conclusion
It is imperative that we continue to look at the world and see how AI is helping medicine and the rise of machine learning in treatments for cancer. While these 2 cases that were just mentioned scratch the bare surface of this topic, there are tons of other cases where AI is consistently helping doctors with their cancer cases. I hope to see more news about cancer and the depths at which machines are helping treat them. However, what are your thoughts? Do you think it's a risky play? For now, we can only dream about cancer being completely gone, but maybe in the near future, it will become a reality.
Sources
Assessed and Endorsed by the MedReport Medical Review Board