An international team of doctors from Europe and China has created an artificial intelligence capable of predicting the risk of premature death with high accuracy, ranging from 70% to 84%, as well as the likelihood of serious complications such as internal bleeding and ischemic attacks in patients with cancer and cardiovascular diseases. This was reported by the press service of the University of Zurich in Switzerland.
Professor Thomas Lüscher from the University of Zurich noted that their development takes into account the mutual influence of tumors and cardiovascular diseases, which is a significant step in the field of personalized medicine. This will help doctors determine which patients may benefit from invasive procedures and intensive drug therapy, and which patients may be harmed more than helped by these measures.
Scientists explain that the presence of tumors in the body increases the risk of severe cardiovascular diseases such as strokes and heart attacks. This is because some tumors promote inflammatory processes and the formation of blood clots, negatively affecting the functioning of the circulatory system.
For effective therapy selection in cancer treatment, it is necessary to consider changes in health status and individual predisposition of patients to cardiovascular diseases. However, this is not always possible due to a lack of reliable tools for risk assessment. In this regard, European and Chinese specialists analyzed health data from 1.1 million residents of the UK, Switzerland, and Sweden who were diagnosed with several serious cardiovascular diseases.
During the study, cancer was identified in approximately 47,000 patients, allowing scientists to assess how the presence of tumors affects the risk of death and the frequency of complications from cardiovascular diseases. Based on the collected data, an AI system was developed that can analyze disparate medical data and assess risks.
Testing of the algorithm showed that it accurately predicted the likelihood of death for 84% of patients and correctly identified the risks of severe bleeding and ischemic attacks in 70-79% of patients. In the future, this will allow doctors to more accurately assess risks in cancer patients with cardiovascular issues and select safer and more effective treatment options, the researchers concluded.
