April 9, 2024 – Researchers are getting closer to reliable searches Pancreatic cancer by conducting blood tests on an individual.
Preliminary results presented at a cancer research conference in California this week showed that a style of blood test called a “liquid biopsy” was key to achieving a 97% accuracy rate in diagnosing essentially the most common style of early-stage pancreatic cancer.
Currently, pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose in early, more treatable stages and is usually only discovered after the disease has progressed, making treatment tougher.
“The results are exciting as pancreatic cancer diagnosed after significant spread is devastating and has a low survival rate. But if we catch it early, there's a greater likelihood we will remove it surgically and treat it further,” said lead study author Ajay Goel, PhD, a professor at the City of Hope Cancer Treatment and Research Center in Duarte, Calif. A Press release.
The study, which included 523 people with pancreatic cancer and 461 healthy people, combined two existing blood tests to achieve the high accuracy rate. Liquid biopsy, which detects particles secreted by tumors, can link the particles back to the tissue's place of origin in the body, such as the pancreas.
According to a press release from City of Hope, liquid biopsy alone has previously been shown to have an accuracy of 88 to 93%. However, when the researchers added information from a blood biomarker test, the diagnostic accuracy increased to detecting 97% of stage I or II pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
The pancreas Located deep in the body behind the stomach, it aids in digestion. It also plays a role in the endocrine system by producing the hormone insulin.
An estimated 66,440 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year and nearly 52,000 will die from the disease, the study found American Cancer Society. Early diagnosis has a dramatic impact on survival rates: 44% of individuals diagnosed early live a minimum of five years, in comparison with a 5-year survival rate of three% for people whose cancer is diagnosed after it has spread throughout the body.