Article The early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and diabetes: What'...

Hi Fazleh,

you can track the between development of diabetes and onset of pancreas cancer as in this paper. the link seems to be thick in some patients but has the advantage to alert for both pathologies, even if the second "by chance" does not appear.

fred

There is no general screening test for pancreatic cancer. Some countries have pancreatic cancer registar, so in cases where is prooved that family predisposition exsist it is advisable to make some kind of preventive diagnostic test like abdominal MDCT scan.

No

pancreatic adenoCA is a less common cancer and the population incicedence,recurrence after surgery variable chemosensitivity to various agents will make a rare cancer witch is lethal but given the low incidence hence not a public Health concern

Agreed

SEER data will put it at at 5 to 10 rank depending upon geographic area

Despite improvements in Understanding biology and improvements in chemotherapy and surgical techniques Only resectable AdenoCA will show improvements in survival

contrary to Breast,Lung and Colon

Take a look here on preventive strategies in the US

https://search.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/search?q=pancreatic+cancer&entqr=0&output=xml_no_dtd&proxystylesheet=USPSTF_frontend&client=USPSTF_frontend&site=USPSTF_Collection&x=0&y=0

https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/UpdateSummaryDraft/pancreatic-cancer-screening1

Thanks for the input

USPTF ' Rationale: The USPSTF found no evidence that screening for pancreatic cancer is effective in reducing mortality. There is a potential for significant harm due to the very low prevalence of pancreatic cancer, limited accuracy of available screening tests, the invasive nature of diagnostic tests, and the poor outcomes of treatment. As a result, the USPSTF concluded that the harms of screening for pancreatic cancer exceed any potential benefits '

This still doesn't solve the problem though.

We will still lose people like Steve Jobs and Aretha Franklin to this disease.

Should we be targeting subgroups? Screen people with the metabolic syndrome or with fatty liver for pancreatic cancer?Is ultrasound good enough as a screening tool- cheap and non-invasive? Will it pick up more operable cases?

We need more of really good research in this area

It is an uncomfortable gap in our knowledge

Thanks

That was helpful and interesting

' Several known hereditary syndromes or genes are associated with an increased risk of developing PC and account for approximately 2% of PCs. These syndromes include the hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, familial atypical multiple mole melanoma, Lynch syndrome, familial polyposis, ataxia-telangiectasia, and hereditary pancreatitis. '

Maybe genetic screening plus smoking history plus screening radiology?

Genetic conditions only account for 2 % of pancreatic cancer cases, though.

And the radiology is either invasive or expensive or both.

Maybe we should re-look at spiral CT screening[ with all its problems] or use noninvasive abdominal ultrasound test as screening?

Ultrasound technology has come a long way, and will pick up larger mass lesions. One can still expect a higher false negative rate with transabdominal ultrasound, due to the amount of obese subjects that will be screened

Hello Fazleh!

The problem with pancreatic cancer is that it is asymptomatic until the very late stages. So by the time it is detected, it has reached stage 3/4.

The current diagnostic marker used for pancreatic cancer in most laboratories is CA19-9, detected through blood. And it actually peaks towards the late stages of pancreatic cancer.

This is why more research needs to be done towards looking for diagnostic markers of PC.

Hope I've helped. Cheers!