People at high risk of pancreatic cancer can be identified earlier before the disease reaches advanced and difficult to treat stages by a new screening test. Nearly 70 percent of pancreatic cancer can be detected using a simple blood test in combination with an existing test with less than 5 percent false-positive rate.
The results of the blinded study were published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer often involves its exocrine part. It grows aggressively, and often detected late. Treatment options include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
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‘No early symptoms occur in pancreatic cancer, and the disease is often detected in the advanced and difficult to treat stages. Hence, the combined blood test would provide early diagnosis and treatment of the illness.’
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Pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose because it often doesn't have obvious early symptoms. By the time the disease is found, it typically is quite advanced, complicating treatment and leading to poorer outcomes. Only 8.5 percent of people with pancreatic cancer survive past five years, a figure that has risen just slightly since the early 1990s.
"Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease made even more devastating by its tendency to spread before detection, which is a serious roadblock to successful medical treatment," said Brian Haab, Ph.D., a VARI (Van Andel Research Institute) professor and the study's senior author. "We hope that our new test, when used in conjunction with the currently available test, will help doctors catch and treat pancreatic cancer in high-risk individuals before the disease has spread."
![Radiosurgery]( "Radiosurgery")
Radiosurgery, also called Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), is a procedure that uses a beam of radiation to treat cancer of the brain, spinal cord and other parts of the body using a Gamma Knife® or CyberKnife®. Radiosurgery can be carried out by a linear accelerator (LINAC), which uses CyberKnife® or TrueBeam® radiotherapy systems. Other radiotherapy technologies include Gamma Knife® and Proton th
Both tests detect and measure levels of sugars produced by pancreatic cancer cells that subsequently escape into the blood stream. The sugar measured by the new test -- sTRA -- is produced by a different subset of pancreatic cancers than CA-19-9, the sugar measured by the existing test. When used together, the tests cast a broader net and detect subtypes of pancreatic cancer that may have been missed by using one of the two tests on its own.
The CA-19-9 test was developed almost 40 years ago and detects only about 40 percent of pancreatic cancers. It currently is used to confirm diagnosis of pancreatic cancer or track disease progression rather than screen for the disease. The improved detection rate offered by the combined use of the sTRA and CA-19-9 tests makes this approach a viable option for screening and early intervention, particularly in people who have a higher risk for developing the disease. This includes people who have a family history of pancreatic cancer, who have had pancreatic cysts or chronic pancreatitis, or who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes later in life. Emerging evidence has suggested that sudden onset of diabetes after age 50 could be an early symptom of some pancreatic cancers. Currently, life-long diabetes is not considered to be a risk factor for or indicator of pancreatic cancer.
"We believe using these tests in a complementary fashion will help physicians detect pancreatic cancers much sooner in the disease process, which significantly improves a patient's chance for survival," Haab said. "Right now, there are few options for people suspected to have pancreatic cancer. This combined blood test could be a simple, cost-effective way to detect disease early enough to improve patient outcomes."
Haab and his collaborators plan to partner with clinical laboratories to gain additional real-world validation for their method. If successful as expected, they envision the test becoming widely available as a screening tool for high-risk individuals.
Source: Eurekalert
Radiosurgery
Radiosurgery, also called Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), is a procedure that uses a beam of radiation to treat cancer of the brain, spinal cord and other parts of the body using a Gamma Knife® or CyberKnife®. Radiosurgery can be carried out by a linear accelerator (LINAC), which uses CyberKnife® or TrueBeam® radiotherapy systems. Other radiotherapy technologies include Gamma Knife® and Proton th
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Both tests detect and measure levels of sugars produced by pancreatic cancer cells that subsequently escape into the blood stream. The sugar measured by the new test -- sTRA -- is produced by a different subset of pancreatic cancers than CA-19-9, the sugar measured by the existing test. When used together, the tests cast a broader net and detect subtypes of pancreatic cancer that may have been missed by using one of the two tests on its own.
The CA-19-9 test was developed almost 40 years ago and detects only about 40 percent of pancreatic cancers. It currently is used to confirm diagnosis of pancreatic cancer or track disease progression rather than screen for the disease. The improved detection rate offered by the combined use of the sTRA and CA-19-9 tests makes this approach a viable option for screening and early intervention, particularly in people who have a higher risk for developing the disease. This includes people who have a family history of pancreatic cancer, who have had pancreatic cysts or chronic pancreatitis, or who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes later in life. Emerging evidence has suggested that sudden onset of diabetes after age 50 could be an early symptom of some pancreatic cancers. Currently, life-long diabetes is not considered to be a risk factor for or indicator of pancreatic cancer.
"We believe using these tests in a complementary fashion will help physicians detect pancreatic cancers much sooner in the disease process, which significantly improves a patient's chance for survival," Haab said. "Right now, there are few options for people suspected to have pancreatic cancer. This combined blood test could be a simple, cost-effective way to detect disease early enough to improve patient outcomes."
Haab and his collaborators plan to partner with clinical laboratories to gain additional real-world validation for their method. If successful as expected, they envision the test becoming widely available as a screening tool for high-risk individuals.
Source: Eurekalert
Tumor Markers For Cancer Diagnosis and Prognosis
An ideal tumor marker for a cancer should be specific to that cancer and not generate false positive results.
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