Artificial intelligence (AI) software is currently being evaluated in a clinical trial that could potentially revolutionize the treatment of pancreatic cancer by diagnosing it early, even before the tumor becomes visible on a scan.
A Mayo Clinic artificial intelligence tool detected abnormalities in scans up to three years before patients were diagnosed.
According to a research article published in the journal IntestineAn AI model developed by a Minnesota-based clinic was trained with CT scans of patients who were previously being screened for other diseases but were later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
The research team then asked radiologists and AI software to review the scans and found that the AI system was three times more effective at detecting early signs of the disease compared to radiologists.
A Mayo Clinic radiologist and study author said they knew pancreatic cancer doesn’t suddenly appear in three months, adding, “We knew that signal was there. We just needed to find a way to be able to detect it.”
Pancreatic cancer has a five-year survival rate of around 13% and is on track to become the second leading cause of cancer death by 2030; However, if successful, implementation of Mayo Clinic’s AI software could improve early detection and treatment outcomes.
Early detection of the disease has been rare until now, but stage I patients had a survival rate of up to 40%.
