AI cuts treatment time for cancer radiotherapy

A new type of artificial-intelligence technology that cuts the time cancer patients must wait before starting radiotherapy is to be offered at cost price to all NHS trusts in England.

It helps doctors calculate where to direct the therapeutic radiation beams, to kill cancerous cells while sparing as many healthy ones as possible.

Researchers at Addenbrooke's Hospital trained the AI program with Microsoft.

For each patient, doctors typically spend between 25 minutes and two hours working through about 100 scan cross-sections, carefully "contouring" or outlining bones and organs. But the AI program works two and a half times quicker, the researchers say.

When treating the prostate gland, for example, medics want to avoid damage to the nearby bladder or rectum, which could leave patients with lifelong continence issues.

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Source: BBC News, 27 June 2023