{"entity":{"id":"idea-prev-opportunistic-ct-ai-registry","kind":"idea","name":"Every routine CT scan checked by AI for early cancer signs, with a tracked follow-up pathway","aka":[],"tldr":"Hundreds of millions of CT scans are done each year for other reasons. Software could check each one for early lung, kidney, liver and pancreas changes, but only if a follow-up system exists.","summary":"Opportunistic screening algorithms exist for lung nodules, renal masses, liver lesions, and body composition. Propose a module running on all adult CTs with structured incidental-finding output, an automated tracking system to ensure follow-up, and a registry recording downstream procedures and cancers found so harm can be measured.","asOf":"2026-09-08","links":[{"label":"Bottleneck evidence (The hardest cancers are found late): Crosby et al., Early detection of cancer (Science 2022)","url":"https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay9040"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["nsclc","rcc","hcc","pancreatic"],"sections":["early-detection","imaging"],"technologies":["ct","radiology-ai-screening"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":["aidoc"],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":["b-early-detection","b-overdiagnosis"],"keyPapers":["paper-crosby-science"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"hypothesis":"Opportunistic AI on routine CT detects one to two additional stage I-II cancers per 1,000 scans, with follow-up completion of at least 90% when tracking is automated, versus under 50% today for incidental findings.","rationale":"Incidental findings are already common but get lost in free-text reports; the failure is tracking, not detection.","test":"Prospective pilot in two hospital systems (100,000 scans), measuring incremental cancers, stage, procedures per cancer, and lost-to-follow-up rate.","maturity":"early-clinical","actor":"engineering","cost":"medium","horizonYears":3},"route":"/ideas/idea-prev-opportunistic-ct-ai-registry/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"hcc","kind":"cancer","name":"Hepatocellular carcinoma","route":"/cancers/hcc/"},{"id":"nsclc","kind":"cancer","name":"Non-small-cell lung cancer","route":"/cancers/nsclc/"},{"id":"pancreatic","kind":"cancer","name":"Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma","route":"/cancers/pancreatic/"},{"id":"rcc","kind":"cancer","name":"Renal cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/rcc/"}],"section":[{"id":"early-detection","kind":"section","name":"Early Detection & Screening","route":"/fronts/early-detection/"},{"id":"imaging","kind":"section","name":"Imaging","route":"/fronts/imaging/"}],"technology":[{"id":"radiology-ai-screening","kind":"technology","name":"AI in radiology","route":"/technologies/radiology-ai-screening/"},{"id":"ct","kind":"technology","name":"CT (computed tomography)","route":"/technologies/ct/"}],"company":[{"id":"aidoc","kind":"company","name":"Aidoc","route":"/companies/aidoc/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-overdiagnosis","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Overdiagnosis and false alarms","route":"/bottlenecks/b-overdiagnosis/"},{"id":"b-early-detection","kind":"bottleneck","name":"The hardest cancers are found late","route":"/bottlenecks/b-early-detection/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-crosby-science","kind":"paper","name":"Early detection of cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-crosby-science/"}],"roadmap":[{"id":"ai-oncology-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"AI in oncology roadmap: pattern readers → foundation models → agents in the workflow","route":"/roadmaps/ai-oncology-roadmap/"}]}}