Artificial Intelligence Tool Predicts Postoperative Radiotherapy Lymphedema

Artificial intelligence is being harnessed by a team of researchers at Leicester University in the United Kingdom to predict the risk of lymphedema (and potentially other toxicities) from the use of postoperative radiation therapy for breast cancer. The 2024 European Breast Cancer Conference heard the latest news on an artificial intelligence tool that promises to help cancer clinicians individualize radiotherapy regimens after surgery to minimize toxicity. Tim Rattay, MBChB, PhD, Associate Professor in Breast Surgery in the Leicester Cancer Research Centre at the University of Leicester and Consultant Breast Surgeon at the University Hospitals of Leicester in the UK, told the conference about his group’s machine-learning algorithm, PRE-ACT (Prediction of Radiotherapy side Effects using explainable AI for patient Communication and Treatment modification), that predicts post-operative lymphedema. After reporting his research in Milan, Rattay called into the OncTimesTalk studio to give Peter Goodwin the details.