door businessam.be
published on Sunday, November 12, 2023 at 10:12 AM •
3 min read
A new study combines AI and blood tests to make early detection of colon cancer more accessible and effective. The DIOPTRA project – funded by the EU’s Horizon Fund, the bloc’s main scientific fund – has just started and will involve at least 1,600 participants across eight clinical sites and will last two and a half years.
Colorectal cancer remains one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide. One of the biggest challenges is detecting the disease early so that treatment is most effective. Traditional screening methods, such as colonoscopy, can be invasive and uncomfortable, so people often avoid them. DIOPTRA wants to make screening easier and more widely available by focusing on blood markers that can identify the disease. Thus, this non-invasive approach has the potential to significantly improve colorectal cancer screening in medical practice, expanding participation in screening to other population groups than those currently reimbursed.
Extensive screening
Previous efforts in this area have been limited by the size of the study – too few participants or too narrow a focus on the biological markers in the blood that could indicate cancer. The DIOPTRA study is designed to overcome these limitations. The study, with 1,600 participants at eight clinical locations in Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Slovenia and Spain, aims to make the screening method more robust and broadly applicable. AI stethoscope used by 100 general practitioners to diagnose heart failure
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Identify risks in advance
The research harnesses the power of AI to screen through vast amounts of data to identify not only who is at risk of developing CRC cancer, but also why they are at that risk. By combining the latest blood test technology with machine learning algorithms, DIOPTRA can conduct in-depth research into factors that contribute to this type of cancer. These factors range from lifestyle and behavior to complex biological indicators. The research focuses on four groups: healthy people, people with non-advanced adenomas, people with advanced adenomas and CRC cases. “This is a milestone for the DIOPTRA project and for colon cancer research in general,” said Zheshen JIANG, clinical coordinator of the study and R&D scientist and project manager at the Center Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège (CHUL).
2023-11-12 09:12:03
#detect #colon #cancer #late
