Boston AI startup can predict breast cancer before tumors appear
The Boston Globe • • health
Key Points:
- An AI system developed by Dr. Lehman and her team uses mammogram images to more accurately identify women at high risk for breast cancer, outperforming traditional methods based on family history and questionnaires.
- The AI was trained on over 400,000 mammograms from diverse populations and tested on 77,000 additional images, showing improved risk prediction across different races and physical breast characteristics.
- This technology could enable earlier intervention through lifestyle changes or preventive medications like Tamoxifen, potentially improving survival rates and addressing racial disparities in breast cancer detection.
- The system may help identify high-risk women as young as 30, allowing for more personalized and frequent screening, which has proven effective in improving outcomes for other cancers.
- While the
