Like millions of people in the US, artificial intelligence was just something Dianne Balon read about on the news.
Little did she know the tech 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 silently forming in Ms Balon’s pancreas.
It caught the tumor in its earliest form, before it had the chance to grow and spread, which is when the vast majority of pancreatic cancers are caught – at which point it’s too late.
The results of the test provided a key ‘piece of the puzzle’. The now-62-year-old went on to have surgery to remove the lesion that would’ve developed into ‘full-blown pancreatic cancer,’ according to her surgeon.
‘I am incredibly grateful,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘AI absolutely saved my life, I won the lottery.’
Dianne Balon, 62, underwent artificial-intelligence-powered blood testing which led her to discover that she was on the way to ‘full-blown pancreatic cancer’
The test is a regular blood draw with comes with a report on levels of different molecules, metabolites, proteins and chemicals in the blood, as well as an indication of inflammation levels in the body
She revealed that even her surgeon was caught off-guard before the operation, telling her: ‘Why are you here? We don’t usually get to see people this early in the process.’
Ms Balon’s cancer journey began in 2017 at a health conference, which she was attending through her work as vice president at a Canadian health insurer.
The mother-of-two, from Edmonton, Canada, saw a presentation by Molecular You, a Vancouver biotech startup that had just launched a new blood test.
It works by analyzing more than 250 biomarkers which even the most sophisticated 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 to immune markers and inflammation, amongst other things.
Being ‘very curious’ about her personal health, she decided to give it a try.
She had yearly $700 blood tests between 2018 and 2022.
In 2022 her results showed ‘very high’ rates of inflammation 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, symptomless and ate healthily so had no reason to suspect she was sick.
‘While I didn’t understand what each and every one of those [biomarkers] was, I could tell that there was enough differences in it, that I needed to ask more questions.’
She flagged the results to her physician, who did blood testing using a traditional test – which showed she was ‘in the norm’ for inflammation.
But she didn’t take no for an answer and convinced her physician to refer her for a biopsy and scans – which found a cancerous lesion on her pancreas.
A biopsy soon after confirmed that something was not right, and that her levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were sky high.
Ms Balon is now able to live a long and healthy life and see 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 level of CEA may be a sign of cancer.
‘Your levels are supposed to be zero or very low, and mine were tens of thousands higher than what they should have been, which was a huge red light and a huge surprise,’ she said.
She went into surgery in December, where the surgeon said to her: ‘I put all this together. This is the trend, you’re on a path to full-blown pancreatic cancer.’
Ms Balon had distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy, where surgeons removed her spleen and a portion of her pancreas.
‘I know that I am incredibly lucky… most people are not that lucky,’ Ms Balon said.
Pancreatic cancer affects roughly 66,000 Americans every year, and kills about 52,000 people, making it one of the most deadly types of the disease.
It often grows silently and produces symptoms that are dismissed for other things.
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.
The Molecular You test is currently only available in Canada and through a small number of select clinics in the US, but the company is hoping to offer tests more widely later in 2024.
Ms Balon said the test would be a ‘game changer’ to have ‘another tool in the toolbox’ to spot cancer early, particularly in young people where cases are rising at worrying rates.
Currently there is no single diagnostic test that can tell if you have pancreatic cancer.
There is no screening done – diagnosis requires multiple imaging scans, blood tests and biopsies, which are usually only done if the patient has symptoms.
