Blood test may help find early-stage pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest forms of the disease and often diagnosed too late
US researchers genetically reprogrammed cancer cells and discovered indicators of early-stage pancreatic cancer, a disease usually diagnosed too late to treat patients; blood test derived from study could be ready for use soon
A new blood test may accurately detect pancreatic cancer in its early stages, offering new hope for people at risk of this fast-moving and often fatal disease, researchers said Wednesday.
Typically, pancreatic cancer is discovered when the tumours are too large to treat. Four in five patients die within a year of diagnosis.
More than 53,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer annually. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer death. Well-known victims of the disease include Apple founder Steve Jobs, actors Patrick Swayze and Alan Rickman, and singer Luciano Pavarotti.
A long-standing concern has been that patients with pancreatic cancer are often not diagnosed until it is too late for the best chance at effective treatment,” said study co-author Robert Vonderheide, director of the Abramson Cancer Centre at the University of Pennsylvania. “Having a biomarker test for this disease could dramatically alter the outlook for these patients.”
