JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Artificial intelligence is becoming another tool doctors can use when treating breast cancer.
New technology is helping doctors get a better look at a patient’s cancer, plan surgery and explain treatment options to patients.
Stacey Stevens, president and CEO of SimBioSys, and Dr. Amy Bremner, medical director of Breast Surgical Oncology at Saddleback Medical Center, joined In Depth with Kristine Bellino to talk about how AI is being used in breast cancer care.
SimBioSys is a precision medicine company that uses artificial intelligence to help doctors better understand and treat breast cancer. Stevens has spent about two decades working in health care and bringing new technology to breast cancer patients.
For her, the work is also personal. Her mother is a three-time breast cancer survivor and was first diagnosed in her early 40s.
Stevens said she helped her mother through the health care system for years. That experience showed her how difficult it can be for patients and their families to understand their options. She also has three daughters and said she wants them to grow up in a world where personalized breast cancer care is more common.
Bremner is a breast cancer surgeon at MemorialCare Medical Group and serves as medical director for Breast Surgical Oncology at Saddleback Medical Center. She explained that AI is not replacing doctors. Instead, it gives them another tool to help make decisions and better understand a patient’s cancer.
One of those tools is SimBioSys’ TumorSight Viz software. The technology uses information from a breast MRI to create a 3D image of the breast and tumor.
Doctors can move the image around and get a better look at the cancer, including its location and how close it is to the skin or chest wall. Bremner said this can help surgeons when planning how to remove a tumor.
The 3D image can also help patients better understand what is happening in their body and the surgical options available to them.
Bremner made it clear that the technology does not replace mammograms.
Mammograms are still the standard screening tool used to look for breast cancer. The AI technology can be used after a patient has been diagnosed to give doctors another way to look at information from an MRI.
The interview also focused on breast density.
Breast density has nothing to do with breast size. Women can be placed into four categories: A, B, C, or D based on what doctors see on a mammogram. Categories C and D mean a woman has denser breast tissue.
Dense breast tissue can make some cancers harder to see on a mammogram. Stevens said women should know their breast density and talk to their doctor about whether they may need another type of screening, such as an MRI or ultrasound.
Bremner said mammograms are still an important screening tool, even for women with dense breast tissue. She encouraged women to talk with their doctor about their individual risk and what type of screening is right for them.
She also encouraged patients to ask questions after a breast cancer diagnosis, including what surgical options they have and whether their doctor has access to AI-assisted tools.
Bremner said patients should not be afraid to bring a list of questions to an appointment and should make sure they feel comfortable talking with their doctor.
More than 320,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the U.S. this year, according to the American Cancer Society.
▶ Listen to Jacksonville’s Morning News Interviews
[ Read more local news from WOKV ]
Click here to download our free news, weather and traffic app. And click here to subscribe to our daily 3 Big Things newsletter.