Prime Minister Theresa May will today challenge the National Health Service to use artificial intelligence to identify thousands of Britons afflicted by some of the most common early-stage cancers.
Leveraging technology will allow least 50,000 people each year diagnosed at an early stage of prostate, ovarian, lung or bowel cancer and lead to around 22,000 few people dying from cancer each year by 2033, the PM will say.
"Late diagnosis of otherwise treatable illnesses is one of the biggest causes of avoidable deaths," May will outline in a visit to Macclesfield.
And the development of smart technologies to analyse great quantities of data quickly and with a higher degree of accuracy than is possible by human beings opens up a whole new field of medical research and gives us a new weapon in our armoury in the fight against disease.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will be used to cross-reference peoples genetics, habits and medical records with national data to spot those at an early stage of cancer. The hope is this will allow doctors to make oncologist referrals much early – even ahead of clear symptoms developing.
Read more: Artificial Intelligence: The importance of identifying the problem
Whole new AI industry
The Prime Minister will continue: “Achieving this mission will not only save thousands of lives. It will incubate a whole new industry around AI-in-healthcare, creating high-skilled science jobs across the country, drawing on existing centres of excellence in places like Edinburgh, Oxford and Leeds – and helping to grow new ones."
Cancer Research chief executive Sir Harpal Kumar said: "Earlier detection and diagnosis could fundamentally transform outcomes for people with cancer, as well as saving the NHS money."
He called the plans to use AI as "pioneering".
“The UK must remain an attractive place for the life sciences industry to invest. If this platform unites Government, academia, the charity sector, and industry, we will be primed to accelerate innovation and lead the healthcare sector to new heights," Kumar added.
And Simon Gillespie, the CEO of the British Heart Foundation said:
Accelerating research using health data and artificial intelligence will build on the UKs reputation for cutting-edge science, and lead to transformative improvements in treating patients within the NHS.
Read more: Woodford-backed cancer treatment pioneer delivers UK-first proton therapy
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