New technology will be vital in the battle against cancer
Earlier this month, people all over the world marked World Cancer Day. Social media, such as twitter, Facebook and Instagram were filled with messages, retweets, hashtags, pictures and stories of those battling with cancer. For many people, it was another poignant occasion to think about family and friends who have sadly lost their fight against the terrible and devastating disease. For many others, it was another day of battling the disease or coping with aggressive treatment.
On the same day, Cancer Research UK revealed that 1 in 2 of us will be affected by cancer, highlighting that despite huge investment, the disease still remains one of the main causes of death in the UK. As highlighted by Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, that’s partly because we’re living longer so if the NHS doesn’t invest now, we will face a crisis in the future.
Although cancer care has improved significantly in recent years, more needs to be done to avoid more people suffering with the disease, particularly in terms of screening and diagnosis.
I have acted for many families who have suffered cancer misdiagnosis. I have seen both personally and professionally, the devastating effects that this can have on the patient, their family and friends. Sometimes misdiagnosis is medically unavoidable but in other cases, a medical professional can make an incorrect, delayed or failed diagnosis. Although rare, these mistakes can occur because the symptoms of cancer are often misunderstood. Overcoming this challenge won’t be easy but further investment, particularly in new technologies is certainly going to help.
On World Cancer Day, a new app was revealed which will help professionals diagnose skin cancer. The app is being developed for later this year and will be operated by a physician who will take a photograph of the skin lesion with their smartphone. It will search a database of over 12,000 diagnosed skin-lesion images, and show the user the most similar images and their associated clinical diagnoses. Over time, this will help recognise and differentiate more skin diseases.
A technology such as this could have a major impact on detection rates not just in the UK worldwide. Let’s hope that it paves the way for other technologically based solutions that can help in the battle against cancer.
Carlos Lopez is a director at Vincents and clinical negligence specialist.