Utilizing AI Algorithms to Inform Breast Cancer Chemoprevention Strategies

In the clinical setting, determining the most effective path for breast cancer risk reduction requires a nuanced, data-driven approach. Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, highlighted how advanced risk assessment models are evolving to provide patients with clearer insights into their long-term health.

By integrating traditional tools like the Tyrer-Cuzick model with newer technology such as the Clarity Breast AI algorithm, clinicians can better identify candidates for chemoprevention—daily medication designed to lower the likelihood of developing breast cancer.

As patients weigh the efficacy of these preventive measures against potential adverse effects, AI-driven data serve as critical components in the shared decision-making process. Furthermore, Mittendorf envisioned a future where these assessment tools are used dynamically to monitor the effectiveness of preventive interventions in real time.

Mittendorf is chief of Multi-Disciplinary Oncology, co-leader of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the co-leader of the Breast Program for the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.

Transcript:

It’s just another part of the conversation. In our comprehensive breast center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, we have an outstanding team of physician assistants who do a rigorous risk assessment using a number of different questions that include things such as the Tyrer-Cuzick model. That gives some information about a patient’s calculated risk. The Tyrer-Cuzick shows their 10-year risk and lifetime risk, and you can see where that might inform a recommendation to have the Clarity algorithm applied to their mammogram. [Alternatively], let’s say they’re at an elevated risk, they get that Clarity score, and it suggests that there are enough data to inform a recommendation for chemotherapy prevention. Chemotherapy prevention is a pill that a woman might take every day to decrease her risk of developing breast cancer. It’s a pill that is effective, but it also has some [adverse] effects, so additional information as a patient considers the risks and benefits could help them come to the decision that feels right for them….Let’s say a woman elects to take chemotherapy prevention. Perhaps we could use this Clarity risk assessment to see if the prevention is working. Meaning, does that risk number go down?

Now, I will say that’s something that I see as a future state. Certainly, we would need to do the clinical studies to determine whether that is an efficacious approach to patients as they think about chemotherapy prevention for their elevated risk.