“Currently, no screening tests exist that can catch pancreatic cancer early, before symptoms develop. NCI is now funding several large research projects that are working to develop such an early-detection tool.
One known risk factor for developing pancreatic cancer is a new diagnosis of diabetes, sometimes called new-onset diabetes. About 1 in 100 people with new onset diabetes are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer within 3 years after learning they have diabetes. And 1 in 4 people who get pancreatic cancer had already been diagnosed with diabetes.
The NCI-funded New Onset Diabetes (NOD) Study, which is scheduled to run through 2025, is currently enrolling 10,000 people with new-onset diabetes or hyperglycemia (also known as prediabetes). The NOD researchers hope to develop a blood test that can identify the few individuals with a new diabetes diagnosis who may need further testing for pancreatic cancer.
Other NCI-funded teams, coordinated through the Pancreatic Cancer Detection Consortium (PCDC), are trying to create a blood test that could pick up early pancreatic cancer in the general population. PCDC researchers are also working to improve imaging of the pancreas, by developing methods that may be able to pick up tiny deposits of tumor cells.”
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