Can a urine test detect pancreatic cancer? New study

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. “This is a biomarker panel with good specificity and sensitivity and we’re hopeful that a simple, low-priced test can be developed and be in clinical use within the next few years”. What is more, the symptoms of pancreatic cancer – which include belly or back pain, weight loss and digestive problems – can be misdiagnosed as chronic pancreatitis, which presents similar symptoms.

“This is an exciting finding and we hope to see this research taken forward into a much needed early diagnostic test”, Maggie Blanks, CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, said in the release.

Sufferers with pancreatic most cancers have been discovered to have excessive ranges of the proteins LYVE1, REG1A and TFF1, out of about 1500 proteins the researchers discovered within the samples, when in comparison with the wholesome sufferers.

Around 1500 proteins were found in the urine samples, with approximately half being common to both male and female volunteers. It is noteworthy to understand that if the pancreatic cancer will be uncovered at stage 1, the patient’s survival rate can reach as high as 60%.

Pancreatic cancer does not usually show symptoms in the first few stages making it hard to diagnose early and have one of the lowest survival rates. Only 3 percent of patients are alive five years after diagnosis, and approximately 9,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the UK every year.

Following on from the results, Pancreatic Cancer UK is today calling for people in Northern Ireland, including Global Positioning System and other healthcare professionals, to be more aware of the disease and know the symptoms. One hundred and ninety-two of the samples were from patients with known pancreatic cancer, 92 of the samples were from those with chronic pancreatitis, and 87 were from healthy individuals.

Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed late when it is too advanced for surgery, the only potential curative treatment. “It’s an inert and far less complex fluid than blood and can be repeatedly and non-invasively tested”, Crnogorac-Jurcevic said in a statement. However, early diagnosis of the disease is uncommon, with around 80% of patients being diagnosed at later stages.

The pancreatic cancer sufferers had higher levels of all three proteins than the healthy patients.

The researchers are hoping to do further tests to validate their findings. This is why at the moment it’s used by doctors alongside other tests to help diagnose patients who are already suspected of having the disease.

“We know that to further improve survival rates we must focus on early diagnosis and this means supporting healthcare professionals, and the public, to better understand symptoms”.

It comes despite nearly a third (29%) of people surveyed in Wales saying they had either been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer or knew someone who had been – compared to the UK average of just under a fifth (19%).