AstraZeneca’s AI lung cancer screening program executes 5 mn tests, flags 50k individuals at high risk

New Delhi: UK pharma major AstraZeneca in partnership with health-tech company Qure.ai, announced the completion of 5 million artificial intelligence (AI) enabled chest X-rays (CXRs) across more than 20 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

The screen program is part of the World Economic Forum's EDISON alliance 1 Billion Lives Challenge and under its commitment AstraZeneca's aims to demonstrate the potential of AI in improving lung cancer detection, especially in resource-limited healthcare settings.

Of the 5 million excluded by the partners the CXRs revealed important findings, including lung nodules at high risk for cancer in nearly 50,000 people who were later referred for further testing and possible diagnosis.

“With successful implementation in countries such as Colombia, El Salvador and India, we are setting the stage for scaling this approach. We are actively partnering with Ministries of Health and policymakers to prioritise lung health and lung cancer on national agendas, including through AI-enabled screening programs to make a real difference,” said Ti Hwei How, Vice President, International Oncology, AstraZeneca.

In 2020, under the A.Catalyst Network initiative, AstraZeneca partnered with Qure.ai to harness Qure.ai's qXR® technology for assessing CXRs and determining potential lung cancer risk.

As per the drug maker by using AI to analyse routine X-rays for risks of cancer, healthcare professionals can focus further assessment, such as a low-dose CT scan to confirm or rule out lung cancer and is especially helpful in countries where resources are limited, as it helps to make the best use of available equipment and expertise, ensuring that those at highest risk get the attention they need and that screening programs are as effective as possible.