AI Can Identify Women at Risk of Breast Cancer Years in Advance, Study Finds

Visitors walk past a sculpture of a pink ribbon installed to promote the "Pink Ribbon" breast cancer awareness campaign in this illustration, October 5, 2011. (Reuters)
Visitors walk past a sculpture of a pink ribbon installed to promote the "Pink Ribbon" breast cancer awareness campaign in this illustration, October 5, 2011. (Reuters)
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AI Can Identify Women at Risk of Breast Cancer Years in Advance, Study Finds

Visitors walk past a sculpture of a pink ribbon installed to promote the "Pink Ribbon" breast cancer awareness campaign in this illustration, October 5, 2011. (Reuters)
Visitors walk past a sculpture of a pink ribbon installed to promote the "Pink Ribbon" breast cancer awareness campaign in this illustration, October 5, 2011. (Reuters)

Artificial intelligence is able to identify women who have an elevated risk of developing breast cancer several years before it is diagnosed, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) said on Tuesday.

Five researchers from FHI, the University of California and the University of Washington were given access to a commercially available AI program to retroactively analyze the mammographies of 116,495 women who took part in a Norwegian detection program between 2004 and 2018.

In total, 1,607 of the women developed breast cancer.

The algorithm was able to predict which women ran a higher risk of developing breast cancer, and even identify which breast was at risk, four to six years before a diagnosis.

"We noted that the breast which developed cancer had an AI score about twice as high as the other breast," said Solveig Hofvind, who heads the detection program and the AI project.

"The study shows that the AI algorithms already available on the market can be used to develop more personalized detection programs," she said.

AI could be used for early detection of breast cancer, to reduce costs and better target at-risk populations, FHI said.

According to the World Health Organization, 670,000 women died of breast cancer in 2022, the most common form of cancer among women in most countries.

The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network, which edits a collection of prestigious medical journals.

The Norwegian detection program also launched a project last year involving 140,000 women to determine whether AI could be as efficient as, or even better than, radiologists to diagnose cancer cases.



Saudi Arabia Ranks First in ITU's 2025 ICT Development Index

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Saudi Arabia Ranks First in ITU's 2025 ICT Development Index

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi Arabia secured the top global position in the UN International Telecommunication Union’s information and communications technology (ICT) Development Index for 2025, which evaluates the digital progress of 164 economies across two key dimensions: universal connectivity and effective connectivity.

The Saudi Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) stated that this achievement reflects the Kingdom’s ongoing sustainable development in the ICT sector and sustained national efforts to enhance competitiveness.

The CST also emphasized that the Kingdom’s advanced digital infrastructure plays a pivotal role in enabling the growth of its digital economy, which achieved SAR459 billion in 2024, contributing 15% to the gross domestic product (GDP).

The Kingdom’s ICT market, valued at SAR180 billion in 2024, is the largest and fastest growing in the Middle East and North Africa. Mobile subscription penetration reached 212% of the population, and the average monthly data consumption per user was three times the global average.