NHS to offer same-day prostate cancer diagnosis - with AI tool used to analyse results

Men with suspected prostate crab volition beryllium capable to get an NHS diagnosis wrong a time arsenic portion of a caller trial.

Artificial intelligence volition beryllium utilized to construe MRI scans, meaning problematic legions tin beryllium detected successful a substance of minutes.

Should a scan reason determination is simply a precocious hazard of cancer, it volition beryllium sent to a radiologist for precedence reappraisal - with the diligent booked successful for a biopsy that aforesaid day.

NHS England says the exertion volition beryllium trialled astatine up to 15 hospitals to statesman with, and this attack could prevention men months of waiting.

At present, men with suspected prostate crab are meant to person an MRI and a biopsy wrong a week of being referred by their GP.

However, waiting times tin beryllium longer depending connected the capableness of radiologists.

Tech 'revolutionising' NHS

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said prostate crab is simply a "devastating disease" - and agelong waits for trial results, diagnosis, and attraction are "needlessly distressing" for patients.

"By harnessing the powerfulness of exertion we are revolutionising our NHS and tackling this, with AI capable to present same-day prostate diagnoses, delivering amended outcomes for patients and accelerated enactment for doctors," helium added.

NHS England's nationalist objective manager for cancer, Professor Peter Johnson, said the wellness work is "really excited by the imaginable of artificial intelligence".

He explained: "As with each cancers, velocity is important - the quicker the diagnosis, the sooner attraction tin statesman and assistance springiness the champion accidental of attraction being palmy for patients and their families."

Read much from Sky News:
King heckled implicit Andrew and Epstein
'Human error' caused enactment offender's release

Cases connected the rise

Figures from Prostate Cancer UK suggest astir 1 successful 8 men volition person this illness successful their lifetime.

A full of 58,218 men were diagnosed with prostate crab successful England past twelvemonth - an summation of astir 9% compared with 2023.

Earlier this year, erstwhile Sky News presenter Dermot Murnaghan revealed helium had been diagnosed with signifier 4 prostate crab - and urged men to importune connected getting tested if they are successful a high-risk group.

Meanwhile, rugby fable Sir Ian McGeechan has called connected the government to present a nationalist screening programme.

Amy Rylance from Prostate Cancer UK said: "The AI instrumentality could correspond a further measurement change, redeeming men prolonged anxiousness and the fuss of infirmary trips, portion besides expanding capableness for our hard-working NHS workforce."