Barts Health implements colon cancer detection aid

Medial EarlySign, an AI-based clinical data solution to aid in the early detection and prevention of high-burden diseases, has seen its EarlySign’s ColonFlag implemented by Barts Health in a bid to prioritise and care for patients at high risk for developing colon cancer.

EarlySign’s machine learning model analyses existing routine clinical data to predict and prioritise individuals at high risk of developing colon cancer in order to help physicians deliver targeted and proactive interventions for optimal care.

Professor Finbarr Cotter, lead for molecular pathology and consultant haemato-oncologist at Barts Health, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has created a challenging situation in which many patients are still awaiting routine treatments and screenings, including for colon cancer, which is the fourth most common cancer in the UK. Integrating EarlySign’s platform into our workstream has helped us to successfully identify patients who would most benefit from screening and intervention, supporting our goal of delivering timely and personalised care to our patients. We are now exploring opportunities to extend our use of EarlySign’s technology to other health areas.”

The Barts Health group operates five hospitals in East London serving a population of 2.5 million people. Its cancer centre at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital is the second largest in London and provides specialist services across the capital and South East England.

Itai Katzir, EarlySign’s chief commercial officer EU and COO, said: "EarlySign’s Back-to-Care initiative is designed to handle the backlog of postponed treatments due to the coronavirus pandemic, and we are excited to support Barts Health in providing personal and timely treatment for people at high risk of developing serious conditions. Barts Health is one of the world’s leading health systems and we are proud to count them among our growing international customer base, joining prestigious organisations across the US and Europe.”