Development and Clinical Validation of Visual Inspection With Acetic Acid Application-Artificial Intelligence Tool Using Cervical Images in Screen-and-Treat Visual Screening for Cervical Cancer in South India: A Pilot Study.
Journal:
JCO global oncology
PMID:
39666915
Abstract
PURPOSE: The burden of cervical cancer in India is enormous, with more than 60,000 deaths being reported in 2020. The key intervention in the WHO's global strategy for the elimination of cervical cancer is to aim for the treatment and care of 90% of women diagnosed with cervical lesions. The current screen-and-treat approach as an option for resource-limited health care systems where screening of the cervix with visual inspection with acetic acid application (VIA) is followed by immediate ablative treatment by nurses in the case of a positive test. This approach often results in overtreatment, owing to the subjective nature of the test. Unnecessary treatments can be diminished with the use of emerging computer-assisted visual evaluation technology, using artificial intelligence (AI) tool to triage VIA-positive women. The aim of this study was (1) to develop a VIA-AI tool using cervical images to identify and categorize the VIA-screen-positive areas for eligibility and suitability for ablative treatment, and (2) to understand the efficacy of the VIA-AI tool in guiding the nurses to decide on treatment eligibility in the screen-and-treat cervical screening program.