The PROSECCA Study, Answering New Questions in Prostate Cancer

As an example of how this technology is beginning to emerge, proof of concept data from the team has shown that using AI it is possible to identify patients at increased risk of damage from radiotherapy long before they receive any radiation as part of their treatment. However, to move these AI-based approaches from the research domain into the clinic requires significant effort, which is the aim of PROSECCA study. The project will use AI to analyse healthcare records from up to 15,000 prostate cancer patients who underwent radiotherapy in Scotland. Through linkage of data obtained specifically for radiotherapy and data held within each patient's unique healthcare history it will be possible to establish new relationships between a patient's medical history and how well a patient responds to radiotherapy. By establishing what factors or information in a patient's complex healthcare record indicate that an individual may have a poor response to treatment, or an increased risk of side effects from radiation, it will be possible to identify these patients earlier than is currently possible and adapt treatment accordingly. Furthermore, identifying these important factors would improve radiotherapy treatment for prostate cancer patients in the future.