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Test Could Screen Diabetics for Pancreatic Cancer

Posted: Monday, June 10, 2002

Although people with diabetes are known to be at risk for pancreatic cancer, the medical community has not yet established criteria for screening these patients. Now, a new study suggests that there is a window during which the risk of developing the cancer may peak.

The study reported in the May issue of Cancer included 86 patients who had begun to show signs of pancreatic abnormalities. Patients in group A had been diagnosed with diabetes within 3 years and patients in group B had been diagnosed with diabetes more than 3 years ago.

All patients underwent endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERP), a test in which doctors view the pancreas and sample tissue. The test detected advanced pancreatic cancer in nearly 14% of patients whose diabetes had been diagnosed recently and in 2% of patients with longer-term disease.

The findings point to a group of high-risk diabetic patients and highlight the need for a better method of diagnosing pancreatic cancer, conclude Dr. Yoshiaki Ogawa from Kitakyushu Municipal Medical Center in Fukuoka, Japan, and colleagues.

"Three years after the onset of diabetes seems to be golden time for the early diagnosis of pancreatic (cancer)," Ogawa and colleagues write. "A more aggressive diagnostic approach toward the diagnosis of pancreatic (cancer) in diabetic patients...may contribute to the earlier diagnosis of the disease."

Diabetes is a chronic disorder that affects the body's ability to produce and use insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas.

The authors note that while studies have shown an association between pancreatic cancer and diabetes, the cancer is not common among patients. Nonetheless, they add, pinpointing diabetic patients at high risk is important.

Pancreatic cancer typically has a poor prognosis, with less than 1% of patients living for 5 years after diagnosis. Until the tumor grows large, there are no symptoms, and the cancer usually spreads to the lymph nodes, liver or lungs before it is detected.

Source: Junes News Article Index