October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, offers us a chance to reflect on and rally against breast cancer, which is the second most diagnosed cancer globally. It also offers us a chance to recognize the strength and determination of those who are leading the fight to eliminate this disease.
Exemplifying this ethos, ScreenPoint Medical recently spoke with Karin Boxem, who survived breast cancer and has become a vocal advocate for breast cancer awareness and a leading voice for health policy change in The Netherlands.
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021, my world stood still. The mammogram showed a tumor in my right breast. After the MRI, it turned out I had four tumors in total, in both breasts. For me, this was a moment when everything changed. What followed is a treatment plan with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy. I also underwent two reconstructive surgeries.
The treatments were tough, but fortunately I received a lot of support from my family, relatives, and friends. That experience also gave me a purpose: to help ensure other women are diagnosed sooner and get better help. I tell my story in the hopes that what I experienced can help influence change for their stories.
AI can literally save lives. The technology already exists, it’s proven, reliable, and ready to support radiologists in detecting breast cancer earlier. Unfortunately, implementation is moving slowly due to unfamiliarity and reluctance.
I also believe that, in my case, the treatments I had to undergo could have started earlier and might have been less extensive, less taxing, and less costly. Several years ago I asked the team at ScreenPoint Medical to review the mammograms I had undergone prior to my 2021 diagnosis and what they found shocked me: the Transpara algorithm flagged my 2018 mammogram as suspicious (with an Elevated Risk of 82 out of 98). If my radiologist had been using Transpara at that time, they might have been able to catch my cancer before it progressed.
What policymakers need to understand is that AI does not replace doctors; rather, it’s a powerful tool that strengthens their work. It increases accuracy, reduces workload, and helps cut down on errors and delays. And what it finds can have a big impact.
Most important: don’t wait. Keep your screening appointment, do self-exams, and take signals seriously. The earlier something is found, the better the chances and the less invasive the treatment.
Using AI in screening is a tremendously positive development. It has been shown that AI can detect breast cancer earlier, especially in women with dense breast tissue. It looks with incredible precision and sometimes sees things the human eye misses. I wish every woman (and her radiologist) an extra pair of eyes, through AI!
Also, had I known my breast density (and I would also want that for other women), I would then be able to decide for myself about what I’m going to do with that information or try to learn more about what that means for me. Right now in The Netherlands, it’s not reported back to each woman even though it is very important when it comes to breast cancer. It IS a risk factor that you can act on.
I will keep sharing my story, reaching out to the media, and writing to politicians.
In the Netherlands, I hope AI will be introduced in the national population screening program in the foreseeable future. I also want to see a standard for breast density reporting and equipping women with the information they need to make their own decisions.
For me personally, this feels like a mission: I hope that through my experience and voice, women can be helped, and helped earlier.