Can AI Help Predict How Far Prostate Cancer Has Spread?

Before prostate cancer surgery, doctors need to know if the cancer has spread beyond the prostate.

This is called “extraprostatic extension” or EPE.

A new study shows that artificial intelligence (AI) may help improve how we detect this spread using medical images.

Researchers looked at 21 studies that used AI to examine prostate scans like MRI and PSMA PET.

These scans were done before surgery.

They compared how well AI could predict cancer spread versus human radiologists.

AI worked best when it used MRI images. It correctly spotted cancer spread about 77% of the time and gave fewer false alarms than expected. It performed slightly better than radiologists in some cases.

On the other hand, when AI used PSMA PET scans, it didn’t offer much of an advantage over radiologists. Its accuracy was more up and down.

This means AI could be a useful tool to help doctors plan better treatments—especially when using MRI scans. But it’s not perfect yet.

More research with larger patient groups is needed before it can be used everywhere.

Ask your doctor if AI-assisted imaging could be part of your care plan.

Related update: A Safer, More Accurate Way to Test for Prostate Cancer