AI model may help identify skin cancer from blood test

11 October 2022

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Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that predicts which skin cancer patients will benefit from a treatment that activates the immune defence system.

The scientists are from the University of Helsinki, HUS Comprehensive Cancer Center, Aalto University, and Stanford University. In practice, the AI model makes it possible to diagnose skin cancer with a blood test, determine the prognosis, and target therapies increasingly accurately.

The right medication for the right patient

Boosting the body’s own defence system has proven to be a particularly effective therapy for skin cancer. The problem with therapies that activate the immune system is the differences between patient groups: while some patients can be said to be cured, others gain no benefit from the treatment at all.

“Prior research has been unable to provide doctors with tools that would predict who will benefit from treatment that activates the defence system. The correct targeting of therapies is extremely important since drug therapies are expensive and serious adverse effects fairly common,” says doctor and doctoral researcher Jani Huuhtanen from the University of Helsinki and Aalto University.

A complex AI model for a straightforward question

The international research group hypothesised that the immune cells of patients for whom the therapy was ineffective do not recognise skin cancer as an enemy, which is why the patients do not benefit from the treatment.

Using the AI model, the group analysed samples from nearly 500 skin cancer patients and compared them with the samples of almost 1,000 healthy individuals. To aid interpretation, the researchers used another AI model developed by Mark M. Davis’ lab at Stanford University. From these samples, the researchers calculated the number of immune cells that recognised skin cancer.

As expected, more skin cancer–sensing defensive cells were found in patients with melanoma than in healthy patients. “This finding may in the future make it possible to identify skin cancer from a blood sample,” says Professor of Translational Haematology Satu Mustjoki from the University of Helsinki.

In addition, skin cancer patients who had more defensive cells that recognised skin cancer was more likely to benefit from therapies that activate the immune system than those lacking such cells.

Focusing AI on other cancer types

The use of AI models in medicine has grown exponentially, but applying them in patient care requires long-term collaboration between doctors and researchers specialising in artificial intelligence.