Pancreatic cancer claims the lives of many thousands every year, but a promising blood test could detect the disease before it becomes deadly.
Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of any cancer because symptoms often don't appear until advanced stages of spreading. A new liquid biopsy called PANXEON, however, has already shown potential in accurately detecting stage 1 and 2 pancreatic cancer, when the disease is more treatable.
Testing results, according to a study recently published in Nature Medicine, suggest that PANXEON could help identify high-risk patients who need to undergo further evaluation for pancreatic cancer.
“For patients, these findings represent progress toward finding pancreatic cancer before symptoms appear and while more treatment options remain available,” said the study’s senior author Ajay Goel, chair of the Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics at City of Hope, in a statement.
Pancreatic Cancer: A Silent Killer
Pancreatic cancer begins as a growth of cells in the pancreas, which lies just below the liver and behind the stomach. The pancreas releases enzymes to help digest food and hormones to manage blood sugar, but surrounding organs can obscure it, making it difficult to find early tumors during routine medical exams.
Because pancreatic cancer symptoms don’t clearly manifest until the cancer reaches an advanced stage, it’s often referred to as a “silent” disease, according to UCLA Health. One of the first symptoms is often jaundice, which causes the skin and whites of the eyes to turn yellow. This is then followed by some combination of weight loss, abdominal or back pain, nausea, and greasy stools.
Explore All OptionsBy the time symptoms may show up, cancer cells could have already spread to other parts of the body, preventing surgical removal of tumors, according to the National Pancreatic Foundation. This is why pancreatic cancer has some of the lowest survival rates of any cancer, with just 14 percent of patients living five years after diagnosis.
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Combining Biomarkers in Blood
PANXEON, as described in the new study, could detect pancreatic cancer in its earliest stages by testing blood samples for three markers of the cancer: circulating microRNAs, exosomal microRNAs, and a protein called CA19-9. The test uses artificial intelligence to combine these three measurements into a single score that estimates a patient’s cancer risk.
The new study outlined results of this biopsy, which was tested in 1,800 patients across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Following testing, PANXEON correctly identified stage 1 and 2 pancreatic cancer 87 percent of the time; its false-positive rate was just 3 percent in low-risk groups and 16 percent in high-risk groups.
The test also detected high-grade dysplasia — a precancerous condition often seen as “stage 0” pancreatic cancer — more than 64 percent of the time. Pinpointing high-grade dysplasia could help physicians monitor pancreatic cysts and decide which ones might require intervention.
Catching Pancreatic Cancer Early
The key differentiator of PANXEON compared to other blood-based tests is its ability to combine three biomarkers. The enhanced accuracy that comes from this combination could especially benefit those who have a high pancreatic cancer risk.
Risk factors for pancreatic cancer include tobacco use, older age, excess weight, and family history. Pancreatic cancer also has a close link with diabetes, which is when the body doesn’t make or properly use insulin, a pancreatic hormone. Type 2 diabetes can develop as a symptom of pancreatic cancer, but it can also be a significant risk factor. According to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, pancreatic cancer is more likely to occur in people who have long-standing (over 5 years) diabetes than in those who don’t have diabetes.
With PANXEON, patients who face these risk factors could have their early-stage cancer caught early without the need for invasive and expensive detection methods.
“A stage shift is not just a statistic,” said Goel. “The earlier we find pancreatic cancer, the greater the chance that meaningful intervention is still possible.”
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Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
- This article references information from a study published in Nature Medicine: Liquid Biopsy for early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
- This article references information from UCLA Health: Pancreatic cancer is almost impossible to detect early
- This article references information from the National Pancreatic Foundation: Pancreatic Cancer
- This article references information from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network: Diabetes and Pancreatic Cancer
