Decision to cancel funds for new cancer technology may cost lives, medics warn

The cancellation of millions of pounds of funding for AI-supported cancer treatment will increase waiting times and could cost lives, experts warned yesterday.

- Anna Bawden

Doctors use artificial intelligence to speed up the mapping or "contouring" of tumours to make radiotherapy as effective and safe as possible.

A process that can take as long as two and a half hours on a manual basis can be done with AI in under five minutes at a cost of only about £10-£15 a patient. Research shows AI contouring can cut the radiotherapy waiting times for prostate cancer by up to nine days. It can save five days in breast cancer cases and three days for those with lung cancer.

In last May, the Conservative government announced £15.5m over three years to fund AI contouring for hospitals in England that provide radiotherapy. Work continued on the scheme after the general election, with online seminars and follow-up calls for staff in September.

The 51 trusts offering radiotherapy continued to work on installing the cloud-based technology, with a number adopting it quickly in the belief the funding was secure.

But in February, Nicola McCulloch, the deputy director of specialised commissioning at NHS England, said the funding had been cancelled "due to a need to further prioritise limited investment". There would no longer be a centrally funded programme to support implementation of the technology, she said in an email seen by the Guardian.