Pancreatic cancer test shows promise

4^th August 2015 -- A simple urine test is showing promising results in detecting pancreatic cancer earlier than current methods.

Because there are few specific symptoms of even advanced pancreatic cancer, most people are diagnosed late, after the cancer has spread. Surgery - the main hope for a cure - is usually not possible at this stage, and the 5 year survival from pancreatic cancer is only 3% in the UK. Mainly because there is no early diagnostic test, this figure has barely improved in 40 years.

Current tests

Because no early diagnostic screening test is currently available for pancreatic cancer, doctors instead consider symptoms such as jaundice, unexplained abdominal pain, weight loss and unusual tummy lumps. The symptoms can be quite vague and may also be a sign of other more common illnesses, so investigations can be delayed.

If pancreatic cancer is suspected, screening tests will be arranged, such as ultrasound, CT scans and MRI scans. Biopsy tissue samples may need to be taken to confirm the diagnosis.

New urine test

A team from Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, has found a 'signature' in the urine based on three proteins that appears unique to pancreatic cancer.

In a study involving 488 urine tests, the signature was able to help spot pancreatic cancer in its early stages. The test also helps rule out chronic pancreatitis, which has similar symptoms and can be confused with pancreatic cancer.

In the samples tested, 192 were from people known to have pancreatic cancer. Another 92 came from people with chronic pancreatitis, 87 were from healthy people and the other samples came from people with liver and gallbladder conditions.

The team concluded that the signature of the three specific LYVE1, REG1A and TFF1 proteins was able to detect stage 1 and 2 pancreatic cancer with better than 90% accuracy.

Further studies are now planned with more samples from people at a high risk of pancreatic cancer. The risks include having a family history of pancreatic cancer, smoking, being obese and being diagnosed with diabetes after the age of 50.

Simple, inexpensive test

Lead researcher, Dr Tatjana Crnogorac-Jurcevic, says in a statement: "We're hopeful that a simple, inexpensive test can be developed and be in clinical use within the next few years."

Co-author and director of Barts Cancer Institute, Professor Nick Lemoine, adds: "For a cancer with no early stage symptoms, it's a huge challenge to diagnose pancreatic cancer sooner, but if we can, then we can make a big difference to survival rates."

The research received funding from the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund. CEO, Maggie Blanks, says: "This is an exciting finding and we hope to see this research taken forward into a much needed early diagnostic test. Early diagnosis is an important part of our overall efforts against this aggressive cancer, alongside developing new treatments to tackle the disease once diagnosis is made."

Leanne Reynolds, head of research, Pancreatic Cancer UK, describes the findings as "exciting news", but cautions in a separate statement that: "We are a long way off a urine test being widely available to diagnose pancreatic cancer, and that is why we need more research to determine whether this could be turned into a screening test for the disease."