A study is set to explore if artificial intelligence (AI) can help doctors make better decisions when it comes to treating prostate cancer.
While prostate cancer diagnosis has become safer and more accurate, it can still be challenging for medics to know how aggressive the disease is in individual patients.
This can sometimes lead to men having surgery or radiotherapy, when they could have been monitored.
The Vanguard Path study is led by researchers at the University of Oxford and funded with £1.9 million from the charity Prostate Cancer UK.
Experts will first test the technology – called ArteraAI Prostate Biopsy Assay – on prostate biopsy samples from men who have already been diagnosed and treated for the disease and have at least five years of follow-up data.
The study will compare how well the predictions made by the AI tool match what happened to patients in the real world.
It will then be tested in real clinics on biopsies from men as they are diagnosed, with a focus on cases in which doctors find it hard to decide the best course of treatment.
The three NHS sites taking part are North Bristol NHS Trust, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Professor Clare Verrill, lead researcher on the project, said the trial “will pave the way for advanced AI technologies” to be rolled out on the NHS.
“This will enable more detailed and precise information to be provided to men who will be able to make better-informed decisions with their clinical team about whether they can be safely monitored or need treatment – and, if so, help guide those decisions,” she added.
Dr Matthew Hobbs, director of research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “AI has the potential to massively improve prostate cancer care and make sure that every man has the most accurate and best treatment plan for his specific cancer.
“We’ve been working with Artera for several years now and I believe that their AI tool is one of the most exciting ones to have been developed. But exciting AI tools can only make a difference if they can be properly evaluated.
“This new project from Professor Verrill and her team is so exciting, because it tests this new technology in real-world settings, meaning we can deliver the final evidence needed for it to be rolled out across the NHS.”
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Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in males and about one in eight men will have it in their lifetime, according to Prostate Cancer UK.
Some 58,218 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in England in 2024, up from 53,462 the year before, according to the National Prostate Cancer Audit (NPCA).
Andre Esteva, chief executive and co-founder of Artera, said: “We developed the ArteraAI Prostate Biopsy Assay to help improve the lives of prostate cancer patients and have spent years gathering evidence about its potential impact.
“We’re delighted to be working with Professor Verrill and her team to see how the test could be used to maximise benefit for men in the NHS and hope that we will soon see the tool being used to personalise prostate cancer care for men in the UK.”
News of the study comes days after it emerged an NHS trial will use AI to interpret MRI scans from men suspected of having prostate cancer.
If the software detects a scan it deems high risk for the disease, it will be sent to radiologists for priority review and the patient will be booked in for a same-day biopsy.
Specialists can then review results and either rule out or diagnose prostate cancer faster.
The pilot will run in 15 hospitals, NHS England said.