After the controversial rise of ChatGPT and talks of it taking jobs from millions of people, discussions about the medical application of cutting-edge technology - artificial intelligence - have taken a backseat. But now, researchers have created an AI tool that identifies people who are at high risk of developing pancreatic cancer up to three years before symptoms show up and diagnosis.
According to the paper published in the journal Nature Medicine, scientists trained an AI algorithm on six million patients from Denmark and three million from the US. The model used disease codes and the timing of their occurrence to predict who is likely to develop pancreatic cancer in the future.
Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease. Since its diagnosis is difficult, the survival rate is very low. An early diagnosis with the AI screening tool is likely to increase the chances of survival.
One of the researchers Chris Sander said that one of the most important decisions clinicians face is determining who is at high risk for a disease. The new AI tool can improve clinical decision-making and lead to more targeted testing.
Experts think that the new AI tool is as accurate as current genetic sequencing tests.