The Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), together with the Prince Philip Dental Hospital, has opened the world’s first clinic that uses AI to help find and prevent mouth cancer early.
The clinic uses a special AI web tool called OralCancerPredict, which was created by HKU in 2021. This tool helps doctors decide the best way to treat patients by checking how likely it is that a mouth condition could turn into cancer.
Mouth cancer often starts with white or red patches in the mouth, called oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD). Two common types are oral leukoplakia (OL) and oral lichenoid diseases (OLD). These conditions have a higher chance of becoming cancer, so finding them early is very important.
The AI tool looks at things like the patient’s age, medical history, symptoms, and lab test results. Then, it sorts patients into two groups:
- High risk: These patients are advised to have surgery.
- Low risk: These patients are given other treatments and are checked regularly.
Tests have shown that OralCancerPredict is very accurate—94%—and works better than older methods.
HKU says all patients with OL or OLD will get full treatment and follow-up at the clinic, and they won’t be charged extra for the AI tool. People who have a referral from their dentist or doctor can use this service.
Source: thestandard
