CANCER

AI to aid treatment of aggressive skin cancers

Artificial intelligence has the potential to enhance clinical decision making by generating personalised predictions of treatment specific outcomes

Max Ryan

January 27, 2025

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  • Artificial intelligence is now being used to determine the course and severity of aggressive skin cancers, such as Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), and has the potential to enhance clinical decision making by generating personalised predictions of treatment specific outcomes for patients and their doctors.

    An international team, led by researchers at Newcastle University, UK, has combined machine learning with clinical expertise to develop a web-based system called ‘DeepMerkel’ which offers the power to predict MCC treatment specific outcomes based on personal and tumour specific features. They propose that this system could be applied to other aggressive skin cancers for precision prognostication, the enhancement of informed clinical decision making and improved patient choice.

    Dr Tom Andrew, a plastic surgeon and PhD student at Newcastle University said; “DeepMerkel is allowing us to predict the course and severity of a Merkel cell carcinoma enabling us to personalise treatment so that patients are getting the optimal management.

    Using AI allowed us to understand subtle new patterns and trends in the data which meant on an individual level, we are able to provide more accurate predictions for each patient.” The research was published in two complementary publications in Nature Digital Medicine and the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

     
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