By: Giselle Acosta
In an exciting step towards early disease detection, a new artificial intelligence (AI) blood test has been created. This test can identify up to 50 cancers prematurely, dramatically increasing survival rates due to early diagnoses. This development offers hope and optimism for higher survival rates and speedier diagnoses, especially for hard-to-detect cancers.
This test works by analyzing the proteins in an individual’s blood. The proteins are important to this process because they undergo changes, even in the most premature stages of cancer. By repeatedly showing the AI program examples of blood samples from patients diagnosed with cancer, the program can learn to detect protein patterns that signal cancer; essentially training the program to understand what cancer-indicating marks are.
One of the largest benefits of this is the test’s non-invasive nature. This makes the process less nerve-racking and more comfortable for the patient, while also making it faster and more efficient for doctors. This allows for more patients to be screened at once with higher chances of diagnosing cancer earlier, instead of only a couple of patients due to the lengthy process of scans and biopsies.
Another important aspect of this test is the inclusion of AI. The artificial intelligence allows for quicker and more accurate diagnoses. It can even analyze more data in a faster and more accurate way than doctors can. It can identify protein patterns that the human eye cannot detect, meaning fewer mistakes and more accurate diagnoses!
Doctors and researchers believe that this AI test can completely rearrange how we go about diagnosing and treating patients. Some cancers, like renal, lung, and ovarian cancer, are difficult to detect unless they have reached the advanced stages; with the inclusion of this test, the likelihood of faster diagnosing and higher survival rates dramatically increases.
Although the blood test is still undergoing more testing until it can be completely released to the public, the results from clinical trials are extremely positive! This blood test demonstrates the positive effect AI can have within the medical community and gives hope to a world where cancer is not within the top 10 reasons for mortality within the United States.
