27
Sep 2019
New pancreatic cancer urine test could boost survival rates to 60%
Researchers have predicted that a pioneering new urine test for detecting pancreatic cancer could drastically improve survival rates, following a 90 per cent accuracy rate in recent studies.
Pancreatic cancer currently has the lowest survival rate, with only around five per cent of patients still alive five years following diagnosis.
The new test, which has been developed by Queen Mary University of London, can detect warning signs of the disease in its earliest stages and scientists involved in the study are hopeful that the test could improve the five-year survival rate of the disease to 60 per cent. Early trials which have proven to be 90 per cent accurate, have shown that it can detect the disease five years before first symptoms show.
Researcher Professor Tatjana Crnogorac-Jurcevic, said “The pancreatic cancer most likely grows for a decade or longer so there is a large ‘window of opportunity’ where we can detect it. At the moment, we only detect late stage cancers.”
She went on to say “If we can detect pancreatic cancer when it’s still operable and when the tumours are small and not yet spread to other organs, we could see a significant impact on patient survival.
“Removing tumours that are 1cm or smaller can increase five-year survival to around 60 per cent.”
Head of research at Pancreatic Cancer UK, Dr Chris McDonald, said “A non-invasive test to help provide earlier diagnosis for pancreatic cancer is desperately needed if we’re to see the first improvements in survival for decades.
“Pancreatic cancer is incredibly adept at evading detection by our immune system, and its vague symptoms – like back pain or indigestion – pose a huge challenge for doctors. All too often the disease is able to develop unnoticed until it is tragically too late for patients and their loved ones.”
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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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