Pancreatic Cancer Could Be Detected Three Years Earlier

Each year more than 10,000 people in the UK and 60,000 in the US are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It has a tragically high mortality rate because about 90 percent of people are diagnosed too late for surgery, which is the only treatment. Now a study of more than 43,000 people in England has shown that cancer could be detected three years earlier than now. That’s when people in the early stages of pancreatic cancer develop abnormally high blood sugar. Each year more than 10,000 people in the UK and 60,000 in the US are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer Cancer could be detected two years earlier than it is today if people’s weight was measured regularly, researchers suggest. This is when people with early pancreatic cancer become noticeably underweight compared to people of a similar age. Weight loss and increased blood sugar are major red flags for pancreatic cancer, which has killed people including actors Alan Rickman, John Hurt and Patrick Swayze. Monitoring one’s weight and blood sugar over time is known to help detect undiagnosed pancreatic cancer early. However, the new findings suggest that comparing a person’s weight and blood sugar change with other similar people could significantly boost the chances of early diagnosis. Researchers compared the body mass index (BMI) and blood sugar measurements of 8,777 pancreatic cancer patients with those of nearly 35,000 people without pancreatic cancer of the same age and sex. Looking at the measurements in the five years to diagnosis for the patients, and the same time period in the people without cancer, it was clear that the differences appeared very early. Dr Agnieszka Lemanska, who led the study from the University of Surrey, said: “Significant reductions in weight and increases in blood glucose could be detected in the years before patients were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.” Ali Stunt, chief executive of Pancreatic Cancer Action, and co-author of the study, said: “I’m one of the one per cent who survive pancreatic cancer beyond 10 years and it’s a lonely place to be.” In the early stages of pancreatic cancer, people’s blood sugar rises because the damaged organ does not produce enough insulin – the hormone that keeps blood sugar under control. Weight loss and increased blood sugar are major red flags for pancreatic cancer, which has killed people including actors Alan Rickman, John Hurt and Patrick Swayze. Tumors can cause the body to burn more calories than usual, leading to unexpected weight loss. The study, published in the journal PLOS One, found that people with pancreatic cancer had a BMI almost three points lower than comparison people their age when they were diagnosed. Cancer patients’ average BMI, which is calculated by dividing someone’s weight by their height, was 25.7, compared to an average BMI of 28.4 seen in people without cancer. Importantly, the change in weight of people who went on to develop cancer was statistically different from that of other people two years before their diagnosis on average. But despite the importance of BMI, more than a third of cancer patients did not have their weight measured by their doctor in the year before their diagnosis. This shows the importance of regular weigh-ins, according to the researchers, who had to do their research using sporadic measurements available from doctor’s appointments. Regular blood tests could also be used, which could in the future be integrated with BMI measurements into algorithms to show people’s risk of pancreatic cancer and flag those at risk. The study found that blood sugar increased significantly in people with cancer two years before diagnosis, compared to non-cancer patients. Weight loss was found to be particularly important for pancreatic cancer risk in people with diabetes, while increased blood sugar was most associated with pancreatic cancer risk for people without diabetes. Diabetes and pancreatic cancer often occur together, but diabetes, like pancreatic cancer, often goes undiagnosed. Weigh-ins and blood sugar readings could help diagnose both diabetes and pancreatic cancer, allowing cancer patients to be rushed for scans and life-saving surgery.

WHAT IS PANCREATIC CANCER?

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of the disease, and about 95 percent of people who get it die from it.
Joan Crawford, Patrick Swayze and Luciano Pavarotti died of pancreatic cancer. It is the sixth most common cause of cancer death in the UK – around 10,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year in the UK, along with around 55,000 in the US. WHAT IS THE CAUSE? It is caused by the abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells in the pancreas – a large gland in the digestive system. WHO IS AT GREATEST RISK? Most cases (90 percent) are in people over 55 years of age. About half of all new cases occur in people aged 75 and over. One in 10 cases is attributed to genetics. Other possible causes include age, smoking and other health conditions, including diabetes. WHY IS IT SO DEADLY? There is no screening method for pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer usually has no symptoms in the early stages, when it would be more manageable. Sufferers tend to start developing the telltale signs — jaundice and abdominal pain — around stage 3 or 4, when it has likely already spread to other organs.
WHAT ARE THE TREATMENT OPTIONS? The only effective treatment is to remove the pancreas. This proves largely ineffective for those whose cancer has spread to other organs. In these cases, palliative care is recommended to ease their pain at the end of life.