Mother, 62, is diagnosed with world’s deadliest cancer years in advance thanks to artificial-intelligence-powered blood test: ‘AI saved my life, I won the lottery’
Like millions of people in the US, artificial intelligence was something Dianne Balon read about on the news.
Little did she know that technology would come to save her life.
Despite being a picture of health, an AI-powered blood test in 2022 revealed that one of the world’s deadliest cancers was quietly forming in Ms. Balon’s pancreas.
It hits the tumor in its earliest form, before it has a chance to grow and spread, and that’s when the vast majority of pancreatic cancers are discovered – at which point it’s too late.
The results of the test formed an important ‘piece of the puzzle’. The now 62-year-old then underwent surgery to remove the lesion which her surgeon said had developed into ‘full-blown pancreatic cancer’.
“I am incredibly grateful,” she told DailyMail.com. “AI definitely saved my life, I won the lottery.”
Dianne Balon, 62, underwent an AI-powered blood test that found her on the path to ‘full-blown pancreatic cancer’
The test consists of a regular blood draw and comes with a report on the levels of various molecules, metabolites, proteins and chemicals in the blood, as well as an indication of the levels of inflammation in the body
She revealed that even her surgeon was taken aback before the surgery and told her, “Why are you here? We usually don’t see people this early in the process.’
Ms. Balon’s cancer journey began in 2017 at a health conference, which she attended through her work as a vice president at a Canadian health insurer.
The mother of two, from Edmonton, Canada, saw a presentation from Molecular You, a Vancouver biotech startup that had just launched a new blood test.
It works by analyzing more than 250 biomarkers that even the most advanced blood tests available in most hospitals cannot detect.
The results are then run through a database by an AI program trained to look for subtle changes in immune markers and inflammation.
Being “very curious” about her personal health, she decided to give it a try.
Between 2018 and 2022, she underwent annual blood tests worth $700.
In 2022, her results showed “very high” inflammation rates in her body and shifts in several metabolites and proteins.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, with around 80 percent of diagnosed cases already at stage three or four at the time of initial assessment – meaning it is incurable and too late for surgery
It came as a complete shock: Ms. Balon was slim, asymptomatic and eating healthily, so she had no reason to suspect she was ill.
‘While I didn’t understand what they all were [biomarkers] I noticed that there were enough differences that I had to ask more questions.’
She reported the results to her doctor, who ran blood tests using a traditional test, which showed she was ‘within the normal range’ for inflammation.
But she wouldn’t take no for an answer and convinced her doctor to refer her for a biopsy and scans, which found a cancerous lesion on her pancreas.
A biopsy shortly after confirmed that something was wrong and that her carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels were sky high.
Mrs. Balon can now live a long and healthy life and watch her two children and four grandchildren grow up
CEA is a protein normally found in the tissue of a developing baby in the womb. In adults, an abnormal CEA level can be a sign of cancer.
“Your levels should be zero or very low, and mine were tens of thousands higher than they should have been, which was a huge red light and a huge surprise,” she said.
She had surgery in December, where the surgeon told her: “I put this all together. This is the trend: you are on your way to full-blown pancreatic cancer.’
Ms Balon underwent a distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy, during which surgeons removed her spleen and part of her pancreas.
“I know I’m incredibly lucky… most people aren’t that lucky,” Ms. Balon said.
Pancreatic cancer affects about 66,000 Americans each year and kills about 52,000 people, making it one of the most deadly forms of the disease.
It often grows silently and causes symptoms that are dismissed for other things.
About 80 percent of diagnosed cases are already in stage three or four at the time of initial assessment – meaning it is incurable and too late for surgery.
The Molecular You test is currently only available in Canada and through a small number of select clinics in the US, but the company hopes to offer testing more widely later in 2024.
Ms Balon said the test would be a “game changer” to have “a new tool in the toolbox” to detect cancer early, especially in young people where cases are increasing at a worrying rate.
Currently, there is no diagnostic test that can tell whether you have pancreatic cancer.
No screening is performed – diagnosis requires multiple imaging scans, blood tests and biopsies, which are usually only performed if the patient has symptoms.