The AI revolution is changing health care, with new advancements paving the way for possible improvements to colon cancer care. A multinational effort is underway to integrate AI into the formative stages of colon cancer treatment when doctors gauge the risk of patients’ conditions. Ohio State researchers are among the experts working on the clinical trial, which utilizes an algorithm to better determine risk factors of patients’ colon cancers, and whether or not chemotherapy is necessary after surgery. “The algorithm determines if a patient is in a high, medium or low risk category,” says Eric Miller, MD, a radiation oncologist at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James). Doctors Miller and Arole provide more info on AI’s potential role in colon cancer care on our Cancer-Free World Podcast. Watch on the video player above or listen via SoundCloud. The clinical trial began after Miller’s colleague, pathologist Vidya Arole, MD, MBBS, met a team in Norway. “They had a tool, an algorithm, for stage 2 and 3 colon cancer patients and we decided to collaborate,” says Arole, an expert in the pathology of colon cancer. “They basically trained their algorithm from thousands of patients in Europe already treated for colon cancer to predict the outcomes,” Miller adds. “The next step, here at Ohio State, was to use the algorithm for patients we had already treated, in which we knew the outcomes, and to see if it could accurately predict the outcomes. It did a good job.” Click to learn more about colon cancer, including risks, symptoms and treatment options at The Ohio State University. Understanding and predicting the severity of colon cancer, and whether chemotherapy is needed after surgery, has traditionally been the role of pathologists, in consultation with patients’ oncologists. “We are the doctors who give a diagnosis by looking at the cells under a microscope traditionally, and now with digitized pathology,” Arole says. The OSUCCC – James team includes world leaders in adopting and utilizing digital pathology. AI is the next step forward. “It’s like having a second set of eyes,” Arole says. While the work is still in the clinical trial stage, it’s showing great potential. “The first goal was to validate the findings from Norway here in the United States,” Miller says. “The next is to increase the patient numbers and make sure the results still stand.” Miller is optimistic the algorithm will continue to “learn” and help him and his James colleagues better understand which patients need additional chemotherapy. “It’s all about decreasing the burden from cancer in our patients,” he says. “My research goal is to come up with better treatments.” Click here to learn more about cancer clinical trials at the OSUCCC – James.