Blood Test for Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer
Researchers have developed a novel blood test that could lead to the first early detection for pancreatic cancer. ()
Pancreatic Cancer: Early Diagnosis Method
Pancreatic cancer has a poor survival rates marred by a lack of distinct symptoms and screening tools needed to detect the disease in its initial stages.
"There are no early detection biomarkers for pancreatic cancer and this needs to urgently change," said Dr. Belinda Lee, a consultant medical oncologist at WEHI.
‘A blood test reliably detects individuals in the early phases of pancreatic cancer, a vital advancement in enhancing survival rates. #pancreaticcancer #cancerdiagnosis #bloodtestcancer’
The team identified 13 proteins that could distinguish between the early and late stages of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) -- the most common type of pancreatic cancer that's fast-becoming the cancer of our generation.
"We hope to validate these proteins and show that they can be used to reliably screen for early pancreatic cancer," Lee said. "This would allow us to create the first diagnostic test to identify patients who have early stages of pancreatic cancer -- something that unfortunately does not exist at the moment," she added.
Reference:
- Development of a blood-based extracellular vesicle classifier for detection of early-stage pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma - (https:www.nature.com/articles/s43856-023-00351-4)