Recently,振奋人心的消息 has come from the international medical community. A newly developed artificial intelligence (AI) tool can predict which prostate cancer patients will benefit from a drug called abiraterone (abiraterone), which can reduce the risk of death by half. This drug is considered a "game-changer" in prostate cancer treatment and has become the most common cancer treatment choice for men in over 100 countries, extending the lives of tens of thousands of advanced prostate cancer patients. However, in some countries, particularly the UK, this "remarkable" drug is not widely available to patients with non-metastatic prostate cancer.
A research team from the US, UK, and Switzerland jointly developed this AI test to identify which men are most likely to benefit from abiraterone. The test will be presented for the first time at the world's largest cancer conference - the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. Professor Nick James from the Institute of Cancer Research in London co-led this project. He stated: "Abiraterone has significantly improved the prognosis for tens of thousands of advanced prostate cancer patients. We know that it also brings significant effects for many patients with non-metastatic cancer."
However, abiraterone also comes with side effects, requiring additional monitoring for hypertension and liver abnormalities, and may slightly increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease. Therefore, it is particularly important to clearly identify which patients are most likely to benefit. The research team used AI technology to analyze biopsy images from more than 1000 high-risk prostate cancer patients, identifying tumor characteristics that are invisible to the naked eye, ultimately determining that 25% of patients are most likely to benefit from abiraterone.
In the trial, patients were scored based on their tumor biomarker results. For those with positive biomarkers, abiraterone reduced the five-year mortality risk from 17% to 9%. For those with negative biomarkers, the mortality risk decreased from 7% to 4%, but this difference was not statistically significant, so they are better suited for standard treatment. One of the co-leaders of the study, Professor Gert Attard from the Cancer Research Institute at University College London, said that this study demonstrates that the new algorithm can extract valuable information from routine pathological sections, enabling personalized treatment plans for specific patients and avoiding unnecessary overtreatment.
Professor James pointed out that since the number of beneficiaries is less than expected, healthcare systems should consider providing abiraterone to patients with non-metastatic cancer. Although the drug has been approved for use in late-stage prostate cancer patients in England, it has not been approved for high-risk non-metastatic disease. In contrast, abiraterone has been in use for two years in Scotland and Wales. James said: "The cost of abiraterone is only £77 per box, while new drugs can cost several thousand pounds. I sincerely hope this new study will prompt NHS England to reconsider its decision not to provide abiraterone to high-risk prostate cancer patients."
Dr. Matthew Hobbs, research director at Prostate Cancer UK, expressed excitement about this AI test. He added: "We urgently call for abiraterone to be made available to men who can benefit from it. Thanks to this study, we can now more accurately identify these patients."