Researchers Test a New Way To Find Pancreatic Cancer Before It’s Too Latehttps://scitechdaily.com/researchers-test-a-new-way-to-find-pancreatic-cancer-before-its-too-late/People at high risk of pancreatic cancer are often monitored with imaging and other tests that can be invasive, expensive, and limited in their ability to catch the disease early. An experimental blood test called PANXEON could give doctors another way to look for cancer while it is more treatable and potentially curable.
In an international study led by researchers at City of Hope, PANXEON correctly identified stage 1 and 2 pancreatic cancer 87% of the time. The study, published in Nature Medicine, evaluated the test in nearly 1,800 patients across the United States, Europe, and Asia to see whether earlier promising results would hold up across different clinical settings.
Finding pancreatic cancer early remains a major challenge. About 90% of patients are diagnosed at advanced stages, when their cancer has already spread. The disease has the lowest survival rate of any cancer, with just 14% of patients living five years after diagnosis.
Detecting precancerous changes in the pancreas
PANXEON also detected more than 64% of cases of high-grade dysplasia, an advanced precancerous condition of the pancreas often described as “stage 0” pancreatic cancer. Detecting these changes could help doctors determine which pancreatic cysts need active monitoring or intervention before invasive cancer develops.
Emphasis in original. One thing that makes pancreatic cancer deadly is that its symptoms are so non-specific that it often is not diagnosed too late for effective treatment. That was what happened, ~60 years ago, with my Dad's brother, and it is true now. Plus or minus Putin, Xi, and Kim III, I would not wish pancreatic cancer on anyone.
