New Findings on Pancreatic Cancer Give Hope for Early Detection
Pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest five-year survival rates of all cancer types: just 5%. This is typically because it is not detected until it has reached a highly aggressive stage. Recent studies at Johns Hopkins University found that approximately fifteen years pass between the first cancer-causing mutations and the start of the stage in which the cells metastasize and become deadly.
In the study, scientists examined the genomes of patients who had died of late-stage pancreatic cancer. The tumor cells contained various mutations which were analyzed in a mathematical model to determine their age. The models suggested that the cells arose approximately ten years after the mutation, dispelling the popular belief that pancreatic cancer is too aggressive for screening to be effective. On the contrary, a screening that detects cancerous pancreatic cells could be highly promising and increase survival rates because the cancer could be treated before metastasizing aggressively.
Some screening techniques are already being tested. A year ago, UCLA scientists identified RNA that could indicate cancer in the saliva of treatable pancreatic cancer patients. There are also advances in optical technology (endoscopy) that uses light scattering to recognize cancerous cells. Until those technologies are made commercially available, doctors will be limited to screening high-risk patients using other imaging techniques like CT scans or MRI. While those techniques can (and have) saved lives with early detection, the recent findings about the timeline of pancreatic cancer could make development of alternatives more worthwhile.
This article caught my attention because of some of the recent imaging tests that I had to undergo recently. Given the wide variety of cancers, it'd be one's hope that doctors could screen for multiple cancers (or diseases in general) with a simple and minimally invasive test. I'd like to see technology move in the direction of effectively consolidating those tests - maybe the salivary analysis could someday be an easy lifesaver for many.
Scientific American, Feb. 2011
"How Old Is Your Cancer?"
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-old-is-your-cancer
In the study, scientists examined the genomes of patients who had died of late-stage pancreatic cancer. The tumor cells contained various mutations which were analyzed in a mathematical model to determine their age. The models suggested that the cells arose approximately ten years after the mutation, dispelling the popular belief that pancreatic cancer is too aggressive for screening to be effective. On the contrary, a screening that detects cancerous pancreatic cells could be highly promising and increase survival rates because the cancer could be treated before metastasizing aggressively.
Some screening techniques are already being tested. A year ago, UCLA scientists identified RNA that could indicate cancer in the saliva of treatable pancreatic cancer patients. There are also advances in optical technology (endoscopy) that uses light scattering to recognize cancerous cells. Until those technologies are made commercially available, doctors will be limited to screening high-risk patients using other imaging techniques like CT scans or MRI. While those techniques can (and have) saved lives with early detection, the recent findings about the timeline of pancreatic cancer could make development of alternatives more worthwhile.
This article caught my attention because of some of the recent imaging tests that I had to undergo recently. Given the wide variety of cancers, it'd be one's hope that doctors could screen for multiple cancers (or diseases in general) with a simple and minimally invasive test. I'd like to see technology move in the direction of effectively consolidating those tests - maybe the salivary analysis could someday be an easy lifesaver for many.
Scientific American, Feb. 2011
"How Old Is Your Cancer?"
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-old-is-your-cancer
Labels: pancreatic cancer
posted by Nicole Cordner at 8:10 PM
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