In a step toward personalised cancer prevention, researchers have found that artificial intelligence (AI) can help identify people at higher risk of developing melanoma using data already available in healthcare systems.

The study, based on Sweden's entire adult population, suggests that routine medical records could play a powerful role in early detection, potentially improving outcomes and making screening more efficient.

The research analysed registry data covering over 6 million adults in Sweden. This included information such as age, sex, medical history, medications, and even socioeconomic factors.

Out of 6,036,186 individuals studied, around 38,582 people, or 0.64 percent, developed melanoma over a five-year period. The findings highlight how existing healthcare data can be used in smarter ways.

A study shows that data already available within healthcare systemOne of the most striking findings was how much better AI performed compared to traditional risk indicators.

When researchers used only basic factors like age and sex, the model could predict melanoma risk with about 64 percent accuracy.

But when AI models included a wider range of data such as diagnoses, medications, and social factors, accuracy rose to around 73 percent.

This improvement may seem modest at first glance, but in large populations, it can translate into thousands of earlier detections.Beyond overall accuracy, AI proved particularly useful in identifying smaller groups of people at much higher risk.

Such insights could allow doctors to focus attention where it is needed most, rather than relying on broad, one-size-fits-all screening approaches.s can help identify people at higher risk. This type of decision support is not yet part of routine care.

Source:Ndtv