A new study published in Lancet Digital Health presented FaceAge, a new Artificial Intelligence (IA) tool that may predict the survival of cancer patients with photo and selfies analysis.
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20/10/2026
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Sis it possible through a photograph to predict the years a cancer patient might live? This is the proposal for a new Artificial Intelligence (IA) tool called FaceAge. According to the study, analysis of a simple selfie can provide indicators that reveal when years cancer patients may survive. The study was published in Lancet Digital Health.
According to the investigation, and here quoted by Mirror, the new AI tool was trained based on more than 40 million photographs to identify key health factors.
How AI reveals survival of cancer patients
They show that on average patients with cancer may appear to be five years older than their real age compared to those without the disease. “A simple photograph of the face contains much more information about health than we previously imagined. The work advances in the field of AI of facial health recognition in a step further that reveals the risk of survival directly from facial photographs of cancer patients”, revealed Hugo Aerts, professor at Harvard University and director of the Mass General Brigham AI program in Massachusetts.
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“ With what we know so far, this is the first demonstration that an AI model can directly predict cancer survival from a simple photograph”, continues the expert.
According to the study, factors such as lifestyle, diet, stress, alcohol and smoking end up having an influence on aging. Also in relation to smokers it was possible to detect lines in the face that relate to aging.
“ Our goal is to make health assessment based on more quantitative and conscious facial photographs so that personalized treatment decisions can be pointed out instead of replacing medical judgment,” says Hugo Aerts.
Cancer. How can the AI help?
The team has created two AI models that can be complementary to FAHR-FaceAge and FAHR-FaceSurvival. “FAHR-FaceAge estimates the biological age of a patient and predicts survival in cases of cancer. On the other hand, FAHR-FaceSurvival predicts survival directly from a facial photograph, rather than revealing survival based on biological age.”
Hugo Aerts points out further clarifications about the new AI tool that may help medical treatment in the future.
“FAHR-FaceSurvival takes the AI field of facial recognition to a new level, learning the risk of survival directly from facial photographs of cancer patients.”