Artificial Intelligence for the Prediction and Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer: Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is the 12th most common cancer worldwide, with an overall survival rate of 4.9%. Early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is essential for timely treatment and survival. Artificial intelligence (AI) provides advanced models and algorithms for better diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore AI models used for the prediction and early diagnosis of pancreatic cancers as reported in the literature. METHODS: A scoping review was conducted and reported in line with the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, BioRXiv, and MedRxiv were explored to identify relevant articles. Study selection and data extraction were independently conducted by 2 reviewers. Data extracted from the included studies were synthesized narratively. RESULTS: Of the 1185 publications, 30 studies were included in the scoping review. The included articles reported the use of AI for 6 different purposes. Of these included articles, AI techniques were mostly used for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer (14/30, 47%). Radiological images (14/30, 47%) were the most frequently used data in the included articles. Most of the included articles used data sets with a size of <1000 samples (11/30, 37%). Deep learning models were the most prominent branch of AI used for pancreatic cancer diagnosis in the studies, and the convolutional neural network was the most used algorithm (18/30, 60%). Six validation approaches were used in the included studies, of which the most frequently used approaches were k-fold cross-validation (10/30, 33%) and external validation (10/30, 33%). A higher level of accuracy (99%) was found in studies that used support vector machine, decision trees, and k-means clustering algorithms. CONCLUSIONS: This review presents an overview of studies based on AI models and algorithms used to predict and diagnose pancreatic cancer patients. AI is expected to play a vital role in advancing pancreatic cancer prediction and diagnosis. Further research is required to provide data that support clinical decisions in health care.

Akkermansia, a Possible Microbial Marker for Poor Glycemic Control in Qataris Children Consuming Arabic Diet-A Pilot Study on Pediatric T1DM in Qatar.

In Qatar, Type 1 Diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is one of the most prevalent disorders. This study aimed to explore the gut microbiome's relation to the continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) therapy, dietary habits, and the HbA1c level in the pediatric T1DM subjects in Qatar. We recruited 28 T1DM subjects with an average age of 10.5 ± 3.53 years. The stool sample was used to measure microbial composition by 16s rDNA sequencing method. The results have revealed that the subjects who had undergone CSII therapy had increased microbial diversity and genus Akkermansia was significantly enriched in the subjects without CSII therapy. Moreover, genus Akkermansia was higher in the subjects with poor glycemic control (HbA1c > 7.5%). When we classified the subjects based on dietary patterns and nationality, Akkermansia was significantly enriched in Qataris subjects without the CSII therapy consuming Arabic diet than expatriates living in Qatar and eating a Western/mixed diet. Thus, this pilot study showed that abundance of Akkermansia is dependent on the Arabic diet only in poorly controlled Qataris T1DM patients, opening new routes to personalized treatment for T1DM in Qataris pediatric subjects. Further comprehensive studies on the relation between the Arabic diet, ethnicity, and Akkermansia are warranted to confirm this preliminary finding.

Early Nutrition and Risk of Type 1 Diabetes: The Role of Gut Microbiota.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) appears most frequently in childhood, with an alarming increasing incidence in the last decades. Although the genetic predisposition is a major risk factor, it cannot solely explain the complex etiology of T1D which is still not fully understood. In this paper, we reviewed the most recent findings on the role of early nutrition and the involvement of the gut microbiota in the etiopathogenesis of T1D. The main conclusions that are withdrawn from the current literature regarding alleviating the risk of developing T1D through nutrition are the encouragement of long-term breast-feeding for at least the first 6 months of life and the avoidance of early complementary foods and gluten introduction (before 4 months of age) as well as cow milk introduction before 12 months of life. These detrimental feeding habits create a gut microbiota dysbiotic state that can contribute to the onset of T1D in infancy. Finally, we discussed the possibility to introduce probiotics, prebiotics and post-biotics in the prevention of T1D.