During the High-Tech Health: Innovating to Turn the Tide Against Colorectal Cancer with AI She Media Co-lab panel at SXSW, Katie Couric detailed how genetic testing helped her uncover she was at a slightly higher risk for the deadly disease. “I really recommend that people get genetic testing,” she said. “I got it and I found out I have a gene mutation that makes me at a slightly higher risk, believe it or not, of colon cancer. So, I want everyone, especially my girls, to be vigilant.”
During the discussion, the journalist also reflected on the impact colon cancer has had on her own life, especially when it comes to her late husband who died of the disease in 1998. “In two weeks, my daughter is going to have her first baby and it’s going to be my first grandchild,” she said. “But you know, I think of everything that my husband missed. He didn’t get to see his daughters graduate from college. He didn’t get to walk Ellie down the aisle. He’s not going to be here to have a grandchild and I just don’t want you or anyone you love or know or care about to miss those moments.”
Couric and panel speakers, Austin Chiang, MD, MPH, FASGE, Chief Medical Officer of Endoscopy, Medtronic; Brooks Bell, Colorectal Cancer Survivor & Advocate; Ken Washington, SVP, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Medtronic; Rajesh Keswani, MD, MS, Director of Endoscopy, Northwestern Medicine and Director of Quality for the Northwestern Medicine Digestive Health Center suggest cancer screenings, especially for younger folks. A recent study from the American Cancer Society which revealed a 9 percent increase in colon cancer diagnoses in people under 50 since 2020, with an almost 10 percent increase over three years.
“It would be so wonderful if tomorrow you call your doctor, if you haven’t gotten a colonoscopy, to make an appointment or talk to your doctor about other screening options that are out there,” said Couric.
And with AI on the rise in healthcare, more options are becoming available. There are large language models that allow for comparison and better decision-making and AI-powered colonoscopy systems, like Medtronic’s GI Genius™ module, that detect 14 percent more polyps and reduce the chance of missed polyps by up to 50 percent.
Washington highlighted that these capabilities aren’t to the detriment of doctors, but rather to help them get better outcomes. “AI is making a good doctor better,” he said. “AI is not meant to take someone who’s off of a job and somehow make them amazing. So, that’s important that you need to have someone who’s thoughtful and still carrying all the stuff that is intrinsic to it.”
When doctors don’t do their due diligence, it can be frustrating as Couric noted, but the hope is that AI can help with earlier diagnoses. “It’s infuriating to me that the go-to diagnosis for doctors when someone comes in is ‘Don’t worry, it’s just a hemorrhoid.’ But internists and doctors in general have to be educated or educated about this.”
In situations like these, it’s best to ask questions, advocate for yourself and ask doctors about their ADR rate. “It should be about 15 percent if they’re a good doctor,” said Bell. “If they’re using AI technology then that increases it by 14 percent so that helps their ADRs go up.”
And if you don’t think this is something you need to worry about, remember that even if you don’t have a family history about 70 percent of colon cancer cases have no family history. Additionally, Black Americans tend to have higher rates of cancer diagnoses and mortality.
“That [no family history] should not give you a false sense of security,” said Couric. “You still need to be screened at 45. If you have a first line relative who has been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, you need to be screened 10 years before that person was diagnosed.”