Major breast cancer screening AI trial to begin

Nearly 700,000 women are to be recruited to take part in an NHS artificial intelligence (AI) breast cancer screening trial in England.

Five different AI platforms will be tested across 30 sites from April to see if the technology can speed up diagnosis as well as free up radiologists.

It comes as the government launches a call for evidence to help it shape its national cancer plan, which is due to be launched later this year.

AI is already being tested in the NHS in a variety of ways, including helping to deliver cancer treatment, managing waiting lists and checking cancer scans. However, this is the biggest trial yet covering breast cancer.

Women who are already booked in for routine NHS screenings will be invited to take part in the £11m Early Detection using Information Technology in Health (Edith) trial.

Screening is offered to those between the ages of 50 and 53 and then every three years until they turn 71.

At the appointments, X-rays known as mammograms are taken to look for cancers that are too small to see or feel.

Currently, two radiologists are required to review the images from each screening to ensure accuracy.

However, it is hoped the AI being trialled will enable one of the speciality doctors to complete the process, freeing up radiologists to see more patients and, in turn, cut waiting lists.

More than two million mammograms a year are carried out under the screening programme, so it could have a major impact on the workload of radiologists.

Department of Health and Social Care chief scientific adviser Prof Lucy Chappell said the study could lead to a “significant step forward”.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said this should just be the start of a wider improvement in cancer care.

He said “urgent action” was needed given cancer survival here was lagging behind other countries, promising to publish a dedicated national cancer plan to “unleash Britain’s potential as a world leader in saving lives from this deadly disease”.

As part of that, the government has launched a call for evidence, urging patients, staff and experts to contribute ideas on the Change NHS website.

However, the Royal College of Radiologists said while AI had “immense potential”, the NHS was still 30% short of the radiologists it needed.

“This study will take time to yield results. The need to build radiology capacity remains urgent,” she added.