AI finds signs of pancreatic cancer before tumors develop: An artificial intelligence model from the Mayo Clinic detected abnormalities on scans up to three years before patients were diagnosed. It's being evaluated in a clinical trial.

NBC News ^ | 05/05/2026 | Aria Bendix

[SeekAndFind]

By the time doctors detect pancreatic cancer, it’s often too late to treat effectively. But a new study suggests that artificial intelligence might be able to find signs of the disease before tumors are visible on a scan.

An AI model developed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, detected abnormalities on patients’ CT scans up to three years before they were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, according to research published this week in the journal Gut.

The scientists behind the model, which is now being evaluated in a clinical trial, trained it by feeding it CT scans from patients who had been screened for other medical conditions then were later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The team then had radiologists review the scans and compared their ability to find early signs of cancer to that of the AI model. The model was found to be three times better at identifying the early signs.

“We knew, based on the biology of the disease, that this is not something which is coming all of a sudden in three months. … We knew that the signal was there. We just needed to find a way to be able to detect it,” said Dr. Ajit Goenka, a radiologist at the Mayo Clinic and an author of the study.

With a five-year survival rate of 13%, pancreatic cancer is on track to become the second leading cause of cancer deaths by 2030. Around 80% of patients are diagnosed after the disease has reached an advanced stage.

Unlike colon or breast cancer, there is no routine screening for pancreatic cancer in healthy people. Feeling for a lump is nearly impossible, since the pancreas is buried deep in the abdomen. And typical symptoms like stomach pain and sudden weight loss usually don’t begin until the cancer has spread...

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TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Health/Medicine; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: ai; cancer; detection; mayoclinic; pancreas

[Secret Agent Man]

Unfortunately, it wont be that helpful for most people in the current real world.

Insurance does not approve annual pancreas CAT scans for everyone. Plus it takes forever to even get in the line for scans, even in this country.

[House Atreides]

I wonder if they’ll be doing a comparison of AI’s success of finding cance with the success of “liquid biopsies” that look for “signals” in the blood.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-04093-9

[kvanbrunt2]

several years ago i imagined that geeks would be doing this type of stuff within the medical community as i saw that their expertise needed improvement. AI might be a better tack.

[Bobbyvotes]

That is correct. Insurance does not pay for preventive expense. Only pays when you are sick. I can’t even imagine how much money will be saved with annual preventive procedures such as pet scans to detect cancer early.

[Getready]

? ????
When they can find out if someone has pancreatic cancer early, they will pay. Way cheaper than one ER visit to find out early. Most likely they will be able to suppress it for years if they catch it early.
As far as AI is concerned, the algorithm the AI model uses will be taught to all M.Ds...Probably best to use blood findings, and CAT, MRI scans. Probably use high res. sonograms early on.

[sauropod]

That has not been my experience.