Breast cancer is the most prevalent kind of cancer in Singaporean females. Each year, nearly 2,000 women are diagnosed with and pass away from this condition. As part of the celebrations for International Women’s Day on March 8, GovTech Singapore has showcased how technology is transforming breast cancer care and how patients can access information on the disease, as the country believes that early detection and treatment can save lives and that being knowledgeable can impact others.
An AI chatbot known as Angie provides women at risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) with information on the disease and genetic testing as a treatment option. They can provide their family medical history via a mobile app application for risk assessment.
This is done prior to a genetic counselling session so that the individual may comprehend the benefits and drawbacks of genetic testing and debate their alternatives with an expert. Without the mobile app chatbot, a counsellor must call the patient for an hour-long conversation to get the family’s medical history.
In addition to battling the sickness, cancer sufferers are frequently burdened by uncertainties around treatment costs. A computerised calculator attempts to provide patients with more accurate predictions of their monthly out-of-pocket expenses, thereby improving their financial status.
The ChemoCalc calculator considers multiple data factors, including the patient’s residency, means-testing tier, and eligibility for government subsidies. It also collects personal information such as the patient’s treatment regimen.
ChemoCalc then calculates the patient’s monthly out-of-pocket expenses and provides a list of medications and treatment services. This enables the submission of claims and allows patients to print the document.
Advanced stage 3 and 4 cancer patients are offered a 12-week palliative care programme via video and phone counselling at the National Cancer Centre Singapore. The Telemedicine Clinic begins with a video consultation between a physician and a nurse. This first appointment is frequently attended by family members and carers, which fosters trust and rapport with the patient’s support system.
The patients will next complete a weekly questionnaire to report their physical and psychosocial complaints. Using the information from the completed questionnaire, the care team conducts a follow-up phone call to determine if their clinical management plan requires modification.
Some of the caregiving operations have been shifted to video and phone consultation, allowing for quicker treatment modifications and a reduction in waiting time at the cancer centre.
In addition, an AI firm is developing technology to improve the accuracy and speed of mammogram-based breast cancer screening.
FxMammo, an AI-powered mammography assistance tool, has shown early promise in properly detecting breast cancer in Asian women with thick breasts. Tests have revealed a decline in false-positive cancer diagnoses between routine screenings, hence the technology has been proven to cut screening time and staff requirements.
In September 2022, the spinoff of the National University of Singapore and the National University Health System secured more than $2 million to continue developing the instrument.
The Singapore Cancer Society says that a woman in Singapore has a 5% chance of getting breast cancer at some point in her life. People who have a family history of breast cancer are twice as likely to get it.
Since this disease affects a lot of people, it is even more important that researchers keep finding new ways to find and treat it.
The good news is that technology keeps getting better and is helping in the fight against breast cancer. With good guidelines for regular screening, we might be able to turn the tide and bring down the number of people who get breast cancer one day.
