Lancet Study: AI Matches Radiologists in Accurate Gallbladder Cancer Detection in India

A recent study published in The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia journal has highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in diagnosing gallbladder cancer (GBC). This aggressive and often challenging-to-detect malignancy with high mortality rates could benefit significantly from AI-driven diagnostics.

AI Detects GallBladder Cancer

Researchers at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi embarked on this study to harness the power of deep learning (DL), a subset of AI inspired by the human brain, to detect GBC. The primary motivation was the difficulty in early diagnosis due to the resemblance of benign gallbladder lesions in imaging.

The study utilized abdominal ultrasound data gathered from patients with gallbladder lesions at PGIMER, a tertiary care hospital, between August 2019 and June 2021. The DL model was trained on a dataset comprising 233 patients, validated on 59 patients, and subsequently tested on 273 patients.

The DL model’s performance was evaluated based on sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), a widely accepted measure of diagnostic test accuracy. The study also involved two radiologists independently reviewing the ultrasound images, and their diagnostic capabilities were compared with those of the DL model.

The results were promising. In the test set, the DL model demonstrated a sensitivity of 92.3%, specificity of 74.4%, and an AUC of 0.887 for GBC detection, which were comparable to the radiologists’ performance.

Notably, the DL-based approach exhibited high sensitivity and AUC for detecting GBC in the presence of complicating factors such as gallstones, contracted gallbladders, small lesion size (less than 10 mm), and neck lesions, which were also on par with the radiologists’ abilities.

The study’s authors emphasized that the DL-based approach showcased diagnostic performance comparable to that of experienced radiologists in detecting GBC using ultrasound. They also recommended further multicenter studies to fully explore the potential of DL-based GBC diagnosis.

However, the study does have limitations. It relied on a single-center dataset, and broader validation through multicenter studies is essential. Additionally, the research has a knowledge cutoff date in 2021, which means that subsequent developments in DL and GBC diagnosis may not be reflected in these findings.

Expert Editorial Comment

This study underscores the potential of artificial intelligence, particularly deep learning, in revolutionizing cancer diagnostics. Gallbladder cancer, known for its elusive early detection, can benefit significantly from AI-powered tools that can identify subtle patterns and anomalies in medical imaging.

The results, showing AI’s sensitivity and specificity comparable to human radiologists, are promising. However, the importance of ongoing research and validation in multicenter studies cannot be overstated. AI in healthcare is a rapidly evolving field, and its practical implementation hinges on robust, real-world evidence.

The use of AI in medical imaging is not just about improving accuracy but also about augmenting the capabilities of healthcare professionals and facilitating earlier diagnoses. As this technology continues to advance, we can anticipate significant contributions to the field of cancer diagnosis and beyond.