Macmillan invests in Lucida Medical’s prostate cancer detection platform
Macmillan Cancer Support, the UK’s leading cancer charity, is investing £350,100 in Cambridge company Lucida Medical’s pioneering new AI platform, Pi™, with the aim of improving the speed and accuracy of prostate cancer tests.
The software is designed to help improve early detection and treatment and reduce the number of cancer-free patients going through more invasive investigative procedures – as well as potentially saving the NHS time and money.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in UK men. There are more than 500,000 men living with prostate cancer across the UK and over 50,000 are diagnosed each year.
These numbers are growing and Macmillan estimates that by 2040 there will be one million men in the UK living with prostate cancer. It’s a common misconception that prostate cancer is harmless: while the lowest grades of prostate cancer develop slowly, 12,000 men die from it each year in this country.
Pi™ is built using Lucida Medical’s proprietary AI technology which has been trained to identify prostate cancer from MRI scans. Preliminary analysis suggests the software has accuracy comparable to expert radiologists, according to results presented at the 2023 International Cancer Imaging Society annual meeting from a diverse group of six NHS hospitals participating in the PAIR-1 clinical study.
Making the Pi™ software available to radiologists across the NHS could help speed up the work of radiologists and reduce the risk of both missing cancers and unnecessary biopsies.
Dr Antony Rix, CEO of Lucida Medical, said: “We are delighted to work with Macmillan, as a leading cancer charity, who share our vision for Pi™ to transform the prospects of patients using AI.
“Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in males and numbers are projected to rise 62 per cent by 2040. Prostate cancer screening is associated with earlier stages of detection and better survival rates. Avoiding unnecessary biopsies can have a transformative impact on the NHS as well as on patients.”
Lucida Medical will demonstrate Pi™ at the 2024 European Congress of Radiology in Vienna (February 28-March 3) where Dr Rix will present the results of the latest research on the platform. Pi™ is available for use in the UK and EU to support diagnosis.
Professor Richard Simcock, Chief Medical Officer at Macmillan, commented: “Lucida Medical uses artificial intelligence to support radiologists to interpret MRI scans. It has the potential to avoid thousands of unnecessary biopsies, alleviating pressure on the NHS workforce and budgets.
“For patients this would mean avoiding anxiety, unpleasant treatments and occasionally dangerous side-effects. Artificial intelligence is already transforming advertising and other industries everywhere.”
Colleague Rachel Higham, CIO at WPP, Macmillan Trustee and Chair of its Impact Investment Advisory Group, added: “We’re delighted to invest in Lucida Medical to make the technology accessible to more radiologists within the NHS. Lucida Medical convinced us about its potential to support radiologists to detect cancer, avoid unnecessary biopsies and help save costs for the NHS during a time of crisis.”
The new investment in Lucida Medical is Macmillan Cancer Support’s second from its Innovation Impact Investment Portfolio. Over the next two years, the new portfolio will be investing £3.5 million in startup businesses that are developing innovative cancer care products and technology.
Macmillan will support Lucida Medical in a number of ways, including assisting the development of Pi™ with its Innovation Community, comprising people living with cancer.
