AstraZeneca Thailand partners with BMA to enhance early-stage lung cancer diagnosis

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt presided over the launch ceremony at the Medical Service Department, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. He said the BMA was dedicated to elevating the quality of public healthcare services through the application of innovative technology, exemplified by AstraZeneca’s “Don't Wait. Get Checked”, which harnesses AI technology to enhance lung cancer pre-screening efficiency. These advancements have yielded concrete results, aligning with Bangkok's objectives under the Bangkok Health Zoning project and the implementation of Preventive Urban Medicine.

Cancer is the leading cause of death in Thailand, resulting in more than 80,000 fatalities annually. Notably, lung cancer has emerged as the biggest contributor to this statistic. Lung cancer is often detected when patients have reached the most advanced stage, or Stage 4, where treatment outcomes are not as good as expected. Therefore, using AI technology to support early lung cancer detection is crucial.

AstraZeneca Thailand is forming partnerships with both the public and private sectors to enhance lung cancer screening capabilities. As a part of these efforts, AI-assisted chest X-ray technology was introduced for lung cancer pre-screening, assessing more than 7,000 cases, and revealing 586 suspected pulmonary lesions, which constitute 8% of the total cases. The suspected lung lesions were identified with a lung cancer probability of 0.3%.

"AstraZeneca aims to enhance the quality of life and wellness for patients by pushing the boundaries of science to provide more sustainable healthcare for people, society, and the planet,” said Roman Ramos, country president, AstraZeneca (Thailand).

“Oncology is one of the focus areas in our diversified portfolio. Through researching and developing innovative solutions, we use AI to expand the capacity and efficiency of pre-screening, aligned with Thailand’s public health pathway for innovation and towards digital healthcare. As we move ahead, we aspire to redefine healthcare and scale up AI technology utilisation to aid lung cancer pre-screening, with the aim to avail accessibility to 500,000 individuals by 2024 and eventually, increase survival rates for lung cancer patients in Thailand,” Ramos said.

Formed by four founding partners – AstraZeneca, Global Lung Cancer Coalition, Guardant Health, and International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer – the Lung Ambition Alliance is a global coalition that spans different disciplines in more than 50 countries, including Thailand. It seeks to better understand how lung cancer evolves, and is developing advanced therapeutic techniques to double patients’ “5-Year Survival Rates for Lung Cancer” by 2025. The alliance aims to enable patients to live longer and better lives through the promotion of effective pre-early-stage screening for the disease using AI technology.

The ‘qXR’ AI software, integrated into this project, was developed by Qure.ai, an innovative AI solutions provider and one of AstraZeneca's partners. This solution has received approval from the Thailand Food and Drug Administration as an AI medical device that employs deep learning algorithms to detect and localise up to 29 lung abnormality markers. These markers include well-defined nodules or masses, irregular margins, and ill-defined lesions that can be presumptive of lung cancer.

Currently, the mobile unit and affiliated hospitals in Bangkok are Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital, Sirindhorn Hospital, Ratchaphiphat Hospital, Venerable Thawisak Juntidharo Hospital, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Lat Krabang Hospital, and Mobile health inspection unit, Department of Health. Several more hospitals under Bangkok's healthcare network will participate in the project in the near future.