Breaking: ArteraAI Prostate Test now available to guide choice between Active Surveillance and aggressive treatment
ASPI seminar on AI and the evolution of AS ... See you in September in LA @ PCRI?
By Howard Wolinsky
The Artera AI Prostate Test, a first of its kind use of artificial intelligence (AI) already is helping men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer avoid androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).
Trevor Royce, MD, senior medical director at Artera, said the test can help 40-60% of patients with intermediate-risk PCa bypass ADT and its serious side effects, such as brain fog, weight gain, and reduction in muscle mass.
(Dr. (Trevor Royce, MD)
In March, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), an alliance of 33 cancer centers included Artera as the first AI test in its Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.
Royce said active surveillance is a new application of the Artera test. The AI test was initially developed on a foundational study of almost 22,000 pathology slides from nearly 7,000 patients published in npj Digital Medicine in 2022.
Now a new version of ArteraAI Prostate Test is available for guidance that includes insights on AS to provide personalized results for shared decision-making through AS. For more, see Medscape.
Royce, who is also a faculty member in radiation oncology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, told me the new version of the ArteraAI Prostate Test helps patients with low-risk (Gleason 6) to favorable intermediate-risk (Gleason 3+4) prostate cancer choose between treatment or active surveillance.
The test estimates how a patient's cancer may progress and predicts the benefit of treatment for localized prostate cancer.
Todd Morgan, MD, chief of the Division of Urologic Oncology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and co-author of the foundational study, told me for Medscape: “The AI test adds another layer of data to making clinical decisions for lower-risk patients.“The technology is a big deal.”
The new test is competing against somatic/genomic tests, Decipher, Prolaris,and Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score (GPS). Medicare has set a $700 price for ArteraAI Prostate Test with no out-of-pocket expenses, a fraction of the cost of the genomic tests.
Patient slides are sent to Artera’s central lab in Jacksonville, Florida.
Royce said results are available fast: "The processing of the digital slides is quick, with patients able to receive results within 2-3 days of the clinician sharing the tissue sample, which is much faster than the current wait time of 2-3 weeks for traditional genomic tests.”
Morgan said: “The ability to use digital images to make accurate prognostic estimates is pretty remarkable, and this is the first test in any disease site to do this,”
He added, “Ultimately, this means tests may someday be performed by just sending images rather than sending actual tissue to an outside laboratory. Is the AI test dramatically more accurate than the genomic platforms? That’s TBD.”
Royce said Artera’s long-term goal is performing the test just using digital images of pathology slides.
He added that Artera is working on a version of its test to inform men with higher-risk prostate cancer on how long their hormone therapy should last.
AI is making moves in other areas of prostate cancer, including reading MRIs and setting margins on cancers. (A lot more to come on this.)
ASPI holding AI webinar, “The Evolution of Active Surveillance Aug. 24
By Howard Wolinsky
Ready or not, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming to Active Surveillance.
AI is being used to read pathology slides and MRI scans, often getting better results than the medical experts.
Now AI is making its moves on Active Surveillance, offering guidance on whether patients should go on AS or undergo aggressive treatment.
Active Surveillance Patients International (ASPI) is holding a webinar entitled Evolution of Active Surveillance at 12-1:30 p.m., Saturday August 24. Register here:https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tfu2urTIjHtZZJwRcRF6a-h426tLw9stk
The program features Leonard Marks, MD, professor of urology at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, whose database of 5,000 patients was used to develop Avenida Health's Unfold AI system.
Marks said the system may be able to predict the durability of active surveillance using an AI map of prostate cancer to determine how big a lesion is.
He said, "smaller is better" in terms of lesion size and durability of AS as a management technique. (Note: I have a story coming on this research.)
Marks also warns about the “hype of AI.”
Also featured are and Scientific Director, Meghan Tierney and Medical Science Liaison, Mia Li-Burton, from Artera, the developer of cancer diagnostics.
Earlier this year Artera released its Artera AI Prostate Test that helps spare men going on radiation therapy avoid hormone therapy and its side effects. This was the first AI test of its kind.
Artera has just released an updated version of its test for patients to learn about the predicted aggressiveness of their prostate cancers and help guide the decision between AS and aggressive treatments. (See story above.)
See you in September in LA at PCRI
By Howard Wolinsky
The Prostate Cancer Research Institute’s 2024 Prostate Cancer Patients & Caregivers In-Person will be held in-person for the first time since 2019.
The popular patient-oriented meeting switched to virtual in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it’s back in person, Sept. 7-8 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport.
Register here.
I’ve been invited to moderate two sessions there. So please stop by and say “yo.” Details to come.
Still time to share your opinions about AI and prostate cancer through Sept. 1
By Howard Wolinsky
Tick-tock, Less than one month left to share your opinions on an important issue for urology patients—the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in diagnosing and tumor management choices for prostate cancer,
Around 300 or so of you have sounded off. Let’s shoot for 500. It takes about 15 minutes to complete the confidential questionnaire.
Peter Evancho, an attorney and second-year medical student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, is conducting a policy analysis about AI and urology and is asking for our help.
Please take a few minutes and answer Evancho’s survey and share your thoughts about AI and urology care. Survey link: https://rs.igs.umaryland.edu/surveys/?s=3R37KJMPERYEWMH9
Who’s got short shorts? ASPI does.
Active Surveillance Patients International has carved up episodes of the popular AS 101 series, co-sponsored by ASPI, AnCan Foundation, the Walnut Foundation, and Canada’s Nationwide AS Support Group under the auspices of Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada.
Check out the bite-sized videos edited and compiled by ASPI Executive Director Bill Manning from the Active Surveillance 101 series: https://aspatients.org/a-s-101/ To see the full videos covering PSAs, second opinions, genomics, exercise, and more, go to: https://aspatients.org/a-s-101/
Unsolicited testimonial
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