The American Cancer Society estimates about 46,000 people nationally will be diagnosed this year with rectal cancer—the third most common type of cancer in the digestive system, after colon and pancreatic cancer.
By using AI, the researchers intend to derive specific metrics on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to better understand how rectal tumors are responding to therapy. The new information represents a key advance toward overcoming issues clinicians face in evaluating which tumors are dying or significantly regressing after therapy, and which are not.