Only 3% of those diagnosed expected to live 5+ years. Mainly due to the lack of symptoms and late diagnosis. Disease has already spread to other parts of the body, with minimal options for treatment. The study from Queen Mary University conducted research, which was funded by the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund

Published in Clinical Cancer Research, scientists discovered a new biomarker (set of three proteins) which is a potential for new diagnostic test that could detect early-stage pancreatic cancer. Could be a definitive indication of whether someone has pancreatic cancer, or doesn’t.

 Anything that leads earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer will help make more people eligible for surgery important as a potential treatment

How it works:

• By looking at the levels of these three proteins in urine, found that they are elevated in people with the disease
• Hope this could lead to a non-invasive, inexpensive test to screen those considered at high risk of developing the cancer
• Biomarker proteins were even shown to distinguish between pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis, chronic inflammatory condition

The 2 are often difficult to tell apart

• Diagnostic test in urine has several advantages over using blood
• Inert and far less complex fluid than blood
• Can be repeatedly and non-invasively tested

Study

• Researchers looked through over 1,500 proteins found in the urine of around 500 people
• Some healthy, some had pancreatic cancer
• Ultimately led to the identification of three specific proteins
  • LYVE1, REG1A, and TFF1
  • Found in higher levels in those with pancreatic cancer

Researchers hope that while this cancer is often not diagnosed until stage four, the last and most severe stage, a test based on these biomarkers could diagnose people at stage one or two. Still early-stage research, only tested on a fairly small sample size. Need to see if it would work in real life when actually diagnosing people.