How could artificial intelligence (AI) impact prostate cancer treatment and research? Dr. Daniel Sentana Lledo shares his perspective on the evolving role of new technology and how AI may aid in moving research and care forward.
Dr. Daniel Sentana Lledo is a genitourinary medical oncologist in the Lank Center for Genitourinary at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Learn more about Dr. Sentana Lledo.
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Transcript
Katherine Banwell:
Dr. Sentana, artificial intelligence is in the news pretty much daily. Does it play a role in treating prostate cancer? And how is it evolving prostate cancer research?
Dr. Daniel Sentana:
Yes. So, again, that’s a whole big question on its own.
Katherine Banwell:
Big question.
Dr. Daniel Sentana:
And I don’t think we quite know the answer, but I can say is that it’s certainly, I think, here to stay, and so we may as well learn how to use it. So, for many reasons, I think it’s an important tool that can identify things like clinical trials that might be right for you, and that’s something that, for example, here at Dana-Farber we have. It’s a software that essentially looks over your chart, and looks over the characteristics of your cancer, and says, “You know what? This patient we think would be a good candidate for this study.” And if you haven’t realized just from review and everything, having that additional tool can be very, very impactful.
In research wise, we have the ability to analyze very big data sets and gather information. So, this is something that before was incredibly time and resource intensive, and now that perhaps within a matter of minutes or hours, you can have the information that would’ve taken a person many days of their time. I think it only frees us, the humans, to think about the questions and the way that we can develop the field, and perhaps leave the more data analytics and essentially grunt of the work to the machines to do.
But as I said, I think it’s a really exciting opportunity. There’s ways that artificial intelligence is being incorporated in how we select treatments for prostate cancer. That’s still, I think, an area of very active development, but certainly something that we’re all, both patients and us as the healthcare providers, going to have to work to incorporate. And my true hope is that it’s going to enhance the care we provide.