Latest news with #laryngealcancer
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Could your voice reveal cancer before you know it? Scientists say AI might soon make it possible
A simple voice recording could one day help doctors spot early signs of throat cancer, according to new research. In a study published in Frontiers in Digital Health, scientists found that artificial intelligence (AI) could potentially detect abnormal growths on the vocal cords, from benign nodules to early-stage laryngeal cancer, by analysing short voice recordings. The findings could support efforts to find an easier, faster way to diagnose cancerous lesions on the vocal cords, also known as folds. 'With this dataset we could use vocal biomarkers to distinguish voices from patients with vocal fold lesions from those without such lesions,' said Phillip Jenkins, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in clinical informatics at Oregon Health and Science University in the United States. Related Experimental vaccine to fight cancer prompts immune response for some patients in small trial Why early detection of throat cancer matters Cancer of the voice box, or larynx, affects more than a million people worldwide and kills roughly 100,000 every year. It is the 20th most common cancer in the world. Smoking, alcohol use, and certain strains of HPV (human papillomavirus) are key risk factors, and survival rates vary from around 35 per cent to 90 per cent depending on how early the disease is diagnosed, according to Cancer Research UK. One of the most common warning signs for laryngeal cancer is hoarseness or changes in the voice that last more than three weeks. Other symptoms include a persistent sore throat or cough, difficulty or pain when swallowing, a lump in the neck or throat, and ear pain. Early detection of laryngeal cancer is crucial because it significantly improves survival rates and treatment outcomes. Related AI battled doctors in a live showdown to diagnose patients. Who came out on top? Yet current diagnostic methods, including nasal endoscopies and biopsies, are invasive, uncomfortable, and often slow, requiring specialist equipment and expertise that many patients struggle to access quickly. Developing a simple tool to flag early signs of vocal fold abnormalities through a quick voice recording could transform how throat cancer is detected – making it faster, more affordable and accessible to a wider population. The next steps for AI-driven diagnosis The research team examined about 12,500 voice recordings from 306 people across North America. They looked for subtle acoustic patterns, such as changes in pitch, loudness, and harmonic clarity. The team identified clear differences for men in the harmonic-to-noise ratio and pitch between those with healthy voices, benign lesions, and cancer. No significant patterns were found in women, but the researchers say this may be due to the smaller dataset. Related New AI tool is better than doctors at diagnosing complicated medical issues, Microsoft says Jenkins said that the results indicate large datasets "could soon help make our voice a practical biomarker for cancer risk in clinical care'. The next step is to train AI models on larger, professionally labelled datasets and test them in clinical settings. The team would also need to test the system to make sure it works well for both men and women, he said. 'Voice-based health tools are already being piloted," Jenkins said. "Building on our findings, I estimate that with larger datasets and clinical validation, similar tools to detect vocal fold lesions might enter pilot testing in the next couple of years".
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Signs of a Rare Type of Cancer May Be Hiding in Your Voice
Cancerous vocal fold lesions could exert a subtle influence over the sound of a person's voice, which could help catch laryngeal cancer earlier than current methods. While the distinction is impossible to detect with the human ear, scientists have found that machine learning algorithms can tell them apart. Across the world, around 1.1 million cases of laryngeal or 'voice box' cancer were diagnosed in 2021, and approximately 100,000 people died from it. Currently, this cancer is diagnosed by specialists using invasive procedures like video nasal endoscopy and biopsies. Related: Digital screening tools that detect the early warning signs of laryngeal cancer using voice recordings could help non-specialist doctors identify patients at risk, and help them receive a diagnosis sooner than they might otherwise. By analyzing 12,523 voice recordings from 306 North American participants, researchers from Oregon Health and Science University and Portland State University identified in men the telltale vocal features of vocal fold lesions that were either benign or cancerous. In particular, the harmonic-to-noise ratio (the relationship between tone and noise) helped to differentiate between male voices with cancer, benign lesions, and voice disorders. The researchers were unable to find statistically significant identifying features in women's voices in this study, but are hopeful that a wider dataset could offer better results for female voices in future. "To move from this study to an AI tool that recognizes vocal fold lesions, we would train models using an even larger dataset of voice recordings, labeled by professionals. We then need to test the system to make sure it works equally well for women and men," says clinical informatician Phillip Jenkins, from Oregon Health and Science University. "Voice-based health tools are already being piloted. Building on our findings, I estimate that with larger datasets and clinical validation, similar tools to detect vocal fold lesions might enter pilot testing in the next couple of years." This research was published in Frontiers in Digital Health. Related News Scientists May Have Identified a Natural Alternative to Ozempic New Research Confirms Weight-Loss Drug Link With Sudden Vision Loss This Amazing Blob Is Stunningly Similar to The Human Brain Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Could your voice reveal cancer before you know it? Scientists say AI might soon make it possible
A simple voice recording could one day help doctors spot early signs of throat cancer, according to new research. In a study published in Frontiers in Digital Health, scientists found that artificial intelligence (AI) could potentially detect abnormal growths on the vocal cords, from benign nodules to early-stage laryngeal cancer, by analysing short voice recordings. The findings could support efforts to find an easier, faster way to diagnose cancerous lesions on the vocal cords, also known as folds. 'With this dataset we could use vocal biomarkers to distinguish voices from patients with vocal fold lesions from those without such lesions,' said Phillip Jenkins, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in clinical informatics at Oregon Health and Science University in the United States. Related Experimental vaccine to fight cancer prompts immune response for some patients in small trial Why early detection of throat cancer matters Cancer of the voice box, or larynx, affects more than a million people worldwide and kills roughly 100,000 every year. It is the 20th most common cancer in the world. Smoking, alcohol use, and certain strains of HPV (human papillomavirus) are key risk factors, and survival rates vary from around 35 per cent to 90 per cent depending on how early the disease is diagnosed, according to Cancer Research UK. One of the most common warning signs for laryngeal cancer is hoarseness or changes in the voice that last more than three weeks. Other symptoms include a persistent sore throat or cough, difficulty or pain when swallowing, a lump in the neck or throat, and ear pain. Early detection of laryngeal cancer is crucial because it significantly improves survival rates and treatment outcomes. Related AI battled doctors in a live showdown to diagnose patients. Who came out on top? Yet current diagnostic methods, including nasal endoscopies and biopsies, are invasive, uncomfortable, and often slow, requiring specialist equipment and expertise that many patients struggle to access quickly. Developing a simple tool to flag early signs of vocal fold abnormalities through a quick voice recording could transform how throat cancer is detected – making it faster, more affordable and accessible to a wider population. The next steps for AI-driven diagnosis The research team examined about 12,500 voice recordings from 306 people across North America. They looked for subtle acoustic patterns, such as changes in pitch, loudness, and harmonic clarity. The team identified clear differences for men in the harmonic-to-noise ratio and pitch between those with healthy voices, benign lesions, and cancer. No significant patterns were found in women, but the researchers say this may be due to the smaller dataset. Related New AI tool is better than doctors at diagnosing complicated medical issues, Microsoft says Jenkins said that the results indicate large datasets "could soon help make our voice a practical biomarker for cancer risk in clinical care'. The next step is to train AI models on larger, professionally labelled datasets and test them in clinical settings. The team would also need to test the system to make sure it works well for both men and women, he said. 'Voice-based health tools are already being piloted," Jenkins said. "Building on our findings, I estimate that with larger datasets and clinical validation, similar tools to detect vocal fold lesions might enter pilot testing in the next couple of years".
