Scientists have developed a blood test that can identify symptomless pancreatic cancer with 97 per cent accuracy, raising hopes that the deadly disease could be caught much earlier.
Around 11,500 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in Britain each year, but the disease is notoriously hard to treat, and just as hard to diagnose.
As it is often caught very late, when treatment options are limited, only 10 per cent of patients live longer than five years after diagnosis – with more than half dying within three months of finding out that they have the illness.
But a new technique developed by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University could help doctors identify the cancer when it is in its earliest stages, increasing treatment options and life-expectancy.
In the study, scientists analysed blood samples from 36 people, including patients with pancreatic cancer and others with non-cancerous conditions like pancreatitis.
The trial was conducted blind, meaning the team did not know which samples belonged to which group.
They used tiny electrical pulses on a microchip which captured small particles released by tumors into the blood. Those particles were then made to glow so doctors could spot signs of pancreatic cancer.
Stuart Ibsen, senior author and associate professor of biomedical engineering at OHSU, said: ‘The more cancer biomarkers, the brighter the electrodes on the chip become.
A newly developed test can identify symptomless pancreatic cancer with 97 per cent accuracy
‘Whatever biomarkers the tumor has are carried on these little particles. Our technology allows us to detect those particles.’
The scientists’ method worked with an astonishing 97 per cent accuracy, correctly revealing those who had cancer.
This is far higher than standard biopsies of the pancreas itself, which through an invasive procedure can detect around 79 per cent of cancer cases.
While the findings are positive, Ibsen believes the technique could be around five years away from clinical use.
At present, pancreatic cancer is incurable, with life expectancy just five years from initial diagnosis. Just one in four patients live more than a year.
There were further hopes raised earlier this year when Spanish researchers combined three medications to completely wipe out pancreatic tumours in lab mice, but this has not yet been tested in humans.
Harry Potter actor Alan Rickman died in 2016 from pancreatic cancer, just six months after his diagnosis.
It kills because it aggressively invades nearby organs, blocks the bile and intestinal ducts, and spreads via the blood and lymphatic system to the liver, lungs, and abdomen, eventually triggering organ failure.
Harry Potter actor Alan Rickman – pictured in 2015 – died in 2016 from pancreatic cancer
The pancreas aids digestion and produces hormones, such as insulin and glucagon, which help convert sugar from food into energy.
Pancreatic cancer can inhibit the gland from making enough of these hormones – which can lead to unstable blood sugar levels.
Common symptoms of the incurable cancer include jaundice, when the skin and eyes take on a yellowish tinge, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, a high temperature, feeling or being sick, diarrhoea and constipation.
Research published last year suggested that more than half of patients diagnosed with the six ‘least curable’ cancers – including lung, liver, brain, oesophageal, stomach and pancreatic – die within a year of their diagnosis.
More than 90,000 people are diagnosed with one of these deadly cancers in the UK every year, accounting for nearly half of all common cancer deaths, according to Cancer Research UK.
There are currently no early detection tests and approximately 80 per cent of people are not diagnosed until the cancer has spread, meaning life-saving treatment is no longer possible.
