The evidence is out. Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted breast cancer screening is helping find small cancers earlier and may ensure that some breast cancers are not overestimated, report physicians at Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute and Lynn Cancer Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, part of Baptist Health.

Kathy Schilling, M.D., medical director of the Lynn Women’s Health and Wellness Institute, presented her findings at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2024 meeting in Chicago in December. She is an early adopter of AI. Her talk, “Real-World Effect of Artificial Intelligence on Histopathology and Stage in Breast Cancer Screening with Digital Breast Tomosynthesis,” highlighted the AI experience of the breast radiologists at the Institute.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in the U.S. In 2024, more than 310,000 new cases were expected to be diagnosed, according to the American Cancer Society. While the incidence of breast cancer continues to rise decade after decade, the death rate has dropped, largely due to new and improved treatments and earlier diagnosis.

Dr. Schilling and her team of dedicated breast radiologists began using AI technology in 2020. They were the only site in South Florida offering the specific AI-enhanced digital breast imaging technology.

“We noted significant increases in detecting cancers in dense breasts, smaller tumor sizes and T1-stage invasive cancers,” Dr. Schilling said in her talk. “We are seeing cancers perhaps years earlier than we would, were we not using AI to assist in diagnosis.”

In addition, she noted that the technology seems to offer a more precise diagnosis, which could lead to a reduction in the overdiagnosis or overestimation of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), an early form of disease in which cancer cells are contained in the breast’s milk ducts. In the majority of patients with DCIS, which accounts for up to 25 percent of all breast cancers, the disease never progresses to an invasive, more serious form of cancer, according to a recent article published in The Lancet.

“As we identify smaller cancers, we may have the opportunity to revise our standards of treatment for our patients,” Dr. Schilling told the RSNA audience. Since implementing AI, the breast radiologists at the Institute improved their detection rate by 23 percent, she said.

The earlier cancer is caught, the greater the chance of a cure. In addition, some patients whose breast cancers are found when they are very small may be able to avoid chemotherapy, radiation therapy or more-advanced treatments.

Physicians with Baptist Health Cancer Care advise yearly screening mammograms beginning at age 40 for women of average risk. Younger women at high risk should speak to their doctor about earlier screening and monitoring, or to obtain a referral to a high-risk breast cancer clinic. And, if you have close relatives — women or men — with breast cancer, particularly if they were diagnosed in their 20s or 30s, a family history of ovarian, prostate or pancreatic cancer, ask your doctor for a referral for genetic counseling and testing.

Baptist Health Cancer Care has locations throughout South Florida.