Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women worldwide, including in India, where late diagnosis continues to drive mortality.

Traditionally, screening programmes have focused on detecting cancer once it has already developed, typically through mammograms starting at age 40 for average-risk women. However, a major shift is now underway.

Global experts, supported by new evidence published in The Lancet and updated guidelines from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), are advocating for the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into breast cancer screening.

Crucially, these recommendations propose beginning AI-based risk assessment as early as age 35, years before standard screening begins.

Unlike conventional models that rely on family history or genetic mutations, AI tools analyse mammograms to predict a woman's future risk of developing breast cancer, enabling earlier and more personalised intervention.

This paradigm shift, from detection to prediction, could be particularly significant for countries like India, where awareness, access, and early diagnosis remain uneven.Traditional breast cancer screening answers a simple question: Is cancer present now? AI-driven tools go further, estimating a woman's 5-year risk of developing the disease using imaging data alone.

This is critical because nearly 85-90% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history or known genetic mutation, meaning conventional risk models miss a large proportion of cases.

The updated guidelines introduce approximately 1.7% five-year risk threshold to identify women who may need closer monitoring or preventive strategies.

Source:Ndtv