2017

July 12, 2017

The best way to treat pancreatic cancer is to detect it early, when the tumor can be removed surgically before it has spread to distant organs. Recently, a team led by PCRC member Ken Zaret, PhD – in collaboration with Gloria Petersen, PhD at the Mayo Clinic – used an innovative approach to identify markers in the blood that can accurately identify patients with pancreatic cancer. What makes this development so exciting is that in a retrospective cohort (an examination of archived blood samples), it was able to distinguish patients with early stage cancer – stage I or II – when survival rates following surgery are much better. Read more the pancreatic cancer treatment here.

The PCRC is working with the High Risk GI Cancer Group (GI Cancer Risk Evaluation Program) to make this test available under a research protocol. We hope to have more information soon. In the meantime, if you have concerns about your risk of pancreatic cancer – either a strong family history, a known inherited mutation, or other risk factors – please reach out to the Pancreatic Nurse Navigator Patricia Gambino, MSN, RN (Patricia.Gambino@uphs.upenn.edu) or to the GI Cancer Risk Evaluation Program by following the above link.