Researchers from the University of Cambridge are leading a £10m project to use artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics to predict and fight cancer risk.
The project, which also includes the University of Southampton, will help doctors assess individual chances of developing cancer and offer personalised detection and prevention strategies for patients.
The Cancer Data-Driven Detection programme will be led by Antonis Antoniou, professor of cancer risk prediction at the University of Cambridge.
It is funded by Cancer Research UK, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
The programme aims to access and link data from health records, genomics, family history, demographics, and behaviour. This will help develop statistical models to predict cancer risk more accurately.
Additionally, the programme will create AI-powered tools to assess an individual’s cancer risk throughout their lifetime.
Over the next five years, funding will used to create the infrastructure to access and link datasets, train data scientists, and create algorithms for cancer risk models.
The programme will also evaluate algorithms and AI tools to ensure accuracy and clinical usefulness.
Partnerships with cancer patients, the public, clinical experts, and industry will guide the project, addressing ethical and legal issues for the practical use of the models and tools.
Antoniou said: “Finding people at the highest risk of developing cancer, including those with vague symptoms, is a major challenge.
“The UK’s strengths in population-scale data resources, combined with advanced analytical tools like AI, offer tremendous opportunities to link disparate datasets and uncover clues that could lead to earlier detection, diagnosis, and prevention of more cancers.”
The models from this research could help identify individuals at higher risk of cancer. The National Health Service (NHS) could offer more frequent or earlier screenings for those at higher risk while sparing low-risk individuals from unnecessary tests.
Furthermore, people at higher risk could also receive faster cancer testing and access personalized prevention methods.
Last week, the UK’s Prime Minister announced support for big data and AI, which could help more patients, including those with cancer.
Science Minister Lord Vallance said: “There are huge opportunities in AI to improve UK healthcare, from scans detecting illnesses earlier to bringing NHS waiting lists down by planning appointments more efficiently, and these will continue to develop.”
