AI detecting Cancer

British doctors and scientists have trained artificial intelligence to effectively detect cancer - The Guardian.

The AI determines whether an abnormal mass recorded on a CT scan is malignant. As the publication notes, it does so with high efficiency, which in the future may help detect cancer at an early stage.

The artificial intelligence was developed based on data from CT scans of about 500 patients with lung neoplasms. During testing, the model proved to be close to perfect. Now the developers are going to test it further on patients in clinics.

January 2026

Chinese AI finds pancreatic cancer that doctors may miss.

PANcreatic cancer Detection with Artificial intelligence (PANDA)

The tool, PANDA, short for "Pancreatic Cancer Detection with Artificial Intelligence," developed in collaboration with Chinese tech giant Alibaba is one example of how Chinese tech companies and hospitals are raising to apply artificial intelligence to some of medicine's most stubborn problems.

Achievement of the tool

The tool found 20 cases of ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common and deadliest type of pancreatic cancer.

US FAO granted device status

• In April, the Alibaba said the US Food and Drug Administration has granted PANDA breakthrough device status, meaning that its review would be expedited to help it get to the market.
• It is also subject of several clinical trials in China.

Pancreatic cancer

• Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer with a 5 year survival rate of around 10% largely because early detection is so hard.
• Symptoms often do not appear until the cancer has advanced.

Tests to check the cancer

• Tests used to confirm its presence, such as the contrast CT scans, involve large amounts of radiation. So many experts advise against widespread screening.
• But lower radiation alternatives, such as non-contrast CTs in which no contrast dye is injected into the patient's bloodstream, produce less clearly defined pictures, making it hard for radiologists to identify the abnormalities.

Fill the space of shortage of specialists

The tool could be a valuable backstop for hospitals where specialists are in short supply, especially in rural areas.

NYT

Cancer Day care centres in India

A key announcement related to the healthcare sector in the Union Budget 2025 is the proposed establishment of cancer daycare centres in all district hospitals, 200 of which are slated to be opened in 2025-26.

the proposed centres will be equipped with chemotherapy administration units, trained oncology staff, basic diagnostic tools, and telemedicine capabilities for consultations with specialists.

India records nearly 15 lakh new cancer cases annually, with malignancies of breast, lung, and oral cavity cancers being the most common.

2023 study by researchers from multiple government institutes, including Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital, found that the average direct out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) for cancer treatment was Rs 8,053 per outpatient consultation and Rs 39,085 per hospitalisation episode. per patient annual direct OOPE incurred on cancer treatment was estimated as Rs 331,177 in the country.

daycare centres at district hospitals could save patients up to Rs 10,000 crore annually.

Most cancer treatment is concentrated in metro and Tier 1 cities, making it difficult for the poor to access care. These centres will be helpful in tier 2 and 3 cities.

ICMR-NCDIR estimates that approximately one in nine people in India is expected to face a cancer diagnosis during their lifetime and the projected cancer burden in India is expected to rise from 26.7 million DALYs (adjusted mortality to incidence) in 2021 to 29.8 million in 2025, with the highest burden in the north and Northeast regions.

Among non-communicable diseases, cardiovascular disease contributes the most to the death rate (63.3 percent), followed by cancer (18.1 percent).

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines CHE (catastrophic health expenditure) as when out-of-pocket payments are more than 40 percent of a household’s capacity to pay. Print

Declare cancer as a "Notifiable disease"

the current population-based and hospital-based registries cover only 10 percent of India’s population, leading to inadequate data for effective monitoring and policy-making.

Ailments that are required to be reported to public health authorities are known as notifiable diseases, a mechanism evolved for prompt investigation, risk assessment, and an effective response to cases of infectious diseases or contamination.

According to the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN), India ranked third worldwide for new cancer cases in 2020, after China and the United States while projecting a sharp 57.5 percent rise in cancer cases by 2040, with the total expected to reach 2.08 million.

On World Cancer Day (which falls on 4 February), Apollo Cancer Centre, in collaboration with the Oncology Forum of Delhi, Cancer Centre AIIMS and Delhi Cancer Registry, launched a nationwide campaign—‘Unify to Notify’—to make cancer a notifiable disease.

the parliamentary standing committee’s report that had recommended designating cancer as a notifiable disease during the ongoing budget session.

On 13 September 2022, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare submitted a report, ‘Cancer Care Plan and Management: Prevention, Diagnosis, Research & Affordability of Cancer Treatment’, to the Rajya Sabha recommending cancer be classified as a notifiable disease.

Currently, India lists 11 notifiable diseases, including tuberculosis, cholera, and AIDS.

as of August 2022, 15 states have made cancer a notifiable disease, but the experts worry about its implementation.

If cancer is made notifiable, a substantial part of the health budget will be allocated to cancer care, given its importance.

the urban bias in the data registry.

There is a three-fold difference between rural and urban cancer rates. In rural India, lifestyle-related cancers are still very low—three times less than in urban areas

rural data is crucial since the majority of the population lives there, but the lack of data is hindering the reach of the programme. Print

World Cancer Day

2025

National Programme for prevention & control of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and stroke

• Population based screening for common non communicable diseases, including 3 major cancers - (breast, oral and cervical cancer)
• 200+ day care centres for chemotherapy set up
• cancer detection and prevention clinics in district hospitals and regional centers to provide early diagnostic services and basic treatment
• CERVAVAC - India's 1st indigenously developed vaccine for cervical cancer.
• India is part of Quad Cancer Moonshot initiative aimed at ending cancer in Indo Pacific
• 3 critical cancer medicines - Trasuzumab Deruxtecan, Osimertinib and Durvalumab - are exempted from customs duty

World’s first randomised clinical trial to assess AI efficacy in detecting breast cancers

The results are based on randomised clinical trials as a part of Sweden’s national screening programme. Involving over 1 lakh women, the trials were held between April 2021 and 7 Dec 2022. Half of the women underwent AI-supported screening, and the other underwent the standard screening procedure.

reporting that the integration of AI in breast cancer screening programmes was safe.

The latest findings suggested that cancer detection rates were 6·4 per 1,000 screened in the intervention group subjected to mammography with AI use compared to five per 1,000 in the control group.

AI-supported screening increased the detection of in-situ cancer, or stage 0 cancer—when the abnormal cells are still where they first formed.

According to the GLOBOCAN 2022, released by the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research in Cancer (WHO-IARC), last year, breast cancer accounted for the second-highest number of malignancies—2.3 million or 11.6 percent of total cancer cases.

Worldwide, lung cancer is the leading form of cancer.

The report also showed that breast cancer continued to be the leading form of cancer in India, affecting 1,92,020 women and killing 98,337 in the country in 2022.

According to experts, delays in detecting cancer, apart from lack of awareness to undergo the screening regularly, is a key reason why breast cancer outcomes in a majority of women in low-income countries such as India are poor.

According to estimates, over 50 percent of breast cancer cases get diagnosed in late stages—3 or 4—in India, and the five-year survival rate for women with breast cancer is just 61 percent for Indian women compared to more than 80 percent in the US.

Mammography screening—a medical imaging technique that uses low-dose X-rays to examine the breast for cancer and can detect malignancy—has been effective in reducing breast cancer mortality.

integrating AI in telemedicine further ensured that women in remote and underserved areas gained access to timely and expert-driven diagnosis, bridging critical gaps in healthcare.

Print

Uniqueness in Lung Cancer in Southeast Asia

The majority of lung cancer cases in India are linked to non-smokers lung cancer accounted for the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in Southeast Asia.

• conducted at Mumbai-based Tata Memorial Centre
• published in medical journal The Lancet

Factors contributing to lung cancer in India

• genetic susceptibility,
• hormonal status and
• rise in poor air quality
• Exposure to
  • particulate matter PM2.5, 
  • asbestos,
  • chromium,
  • cadmium,
  • arsenic and
  • coal as well as
  • passive smoking

Research Findings

• Researchers noted that despite being non-smokers, lung cancer manifests among Indians, ten years earlier as compared to Western countries. 

“Lung cancer presents approximately a decade earlier in India as compared to Western countries, with a mean age at diagnosis of 54–70 years”

only 31.7 per cent of patients in India with Stages I to IIIB lung cancer, underwent curative intent therapy while only 13.4 per cent underwent curative resection.

Curative Resection:

• Curative lung resection surgery is a procedure that removes all or part of a lung that is damaged or diseased by lung cancer

Curative intent therapy:

• Curative intent therapy is a type of treatment that aims to cure a disease or illness and restore a patient's health to a pre-disease state.
• It's considered applicable when a patient has a life-limiting illness Wion