AI test determines best prostate cancer treatment

May 2025

A new AI test can pick out which men with high-risk prostate cancer that has not spread will require life-extending drug abiraterone.

Scientists from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and University College London (UCL) showed that for approximately 25 per cent of men with this type of cancer, abiraterone almost halves the risk of death.

Experts say that because fewer men than previously thought will need the drug, NHS England should review the decision not to fund the treatment for this group of men.  

It is approved for use on the NHS in England for patients with advanced prostate cancer that has come back and spread to other parts of the body, but not for the 8,400 men per year with newly-diagnosed high-risk prostate cancer that has not yet spread. However, it has been available for men with this indication in Scotland and Wales for two years.

The new test, developed by Artera Inc., uses artificial intelligence to study images of tumour samples and pick out features that are invisible to the human eye.

Source https://www.icr.ac.uk/about-us/icr-news/detail/ai-test-determines-best-prostate-cancer-treatment---which-could-save-nhs-money copy