Woman credits ChatGPT for helping discover her hidden cancer
Lauren Bannon, a 40-year-old mother of two who divides her time between North Carolina and the U.S. Virgin Islands, claims ChatGPT helped save her life after doctors initially misdiagnosed her symptoms, reports a Kazinform News Agency correspondent.
In early 2024, Bannon began experiencing trouble bending her fingers in the mornings and evenings. After several months, doctors diagnosed her with rheumatoid arthritis, despite negative test results. When she later suffered from severe stomach pain and lost 14 pounds in just one month, the symptoms were dismissed as acid reflux.
Frustrated by the lack of clear answers, Bannon turned to ChatGPT, the AI chatbot she already used for work. She typed in her symptoms and asked what could mimic rheumatoid arthritis. ChatGPT suggested Hashimoto’s disease and recommended she ask her doctor to check her thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO) levels.
“I needed to find out what was happening to me, I just felt so desperate. I just wasn’t getting the answers I needed,” Bannon said. “It was almost like they were just trying to give out medication for anything to get you in and out the door.”
Even though her doctor was skeptical, noting she had no family history of Hashimoto’s disease, Bannon insisted: “I said, ‘just amuse me’.” Tests revealed thyroid issues, and a subsequent ultrasound discovered two small cancerous lumps in her neck.
“I didn’t have the typical symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease — I wasn’t tired or feeling exhausted,” Bannon said. “If I hadn’t looked on ChatGPT, I would’ve just taken the rheumatoid arthritis medication and the cancer would’ve spread from my neck to everywhere else.”
After her diagnosis, Bannon underwent surgery to remove her thyroid and two lymph nodes. She will now be under lifelong monitoring to prevent the cancer’s return.
“It saved my life. I would’ve never discovered this without ChatGPT. All my tests were perfect,” she said.
Bannon now encourages others to use AI tools carefully when dealing with health concerns. “I would encourage others to use ChatGPT with their health concerns, act with caution but if it gives you something to look into, ask your doctors to test you. It can’t do any harm. I feel lucky to be alive.”
Earlier, it was reported that a groundbreaking blood test using artificial intelligence to detect cancer from just a few drops of blood is entering clinical trials across the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).