Ninety percent. That is the share of pancreatic cancer cases found only after the tumor has already spread, when the chances of a cure are minimal, and it is why only 14% of patients are alive five years after diagnosis.
City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment centers in the world, has built an experimental blood test it hopes will change that. It is called PANXEON, and it is a liquid biopsy meant to catch the disease while it can still be treated and possibly cured.
The numbers come from an international study in Nature Medicine covering nearly 1,800 patients in the United States, Europe and Asia. PANXEON correctly picked up stage 1 and stage 2 pancreatic cancer in 87% of cases. It wrongly flagged 3% of people in low-risk groups and 16% in high-risk groups.
Looking for “stage zero”
The test also found high-grade dysplasia, a precancerous change in the pancreas sometimes called “stage zero” disease, in 64% of cases. That matters for people with pancreatic cysts. Doctors could use the result to judge which cysts need close watching and which need surgery before they turn into invasive cancer.
Most tests of this kind look at one marker. PANXEON reads three from a single blood sample: circulating microRNAs, exosomal microRNAs and the CA19-9 protein. Artificial intelligence then combines all three readings into one risk score for the patient.
“Most biomarkers show us only one part of the picture, while combining several biological signals gives us a much clearer view of what is happening in the pancreas,” said Ajay Goel, the study’s lead author and head of the Department of Molecular Diagnostics. “Pancreatic cancer is so deadly largely because we find it when the window for a cure is already closing. The earlier we detect the disease, the greater the chance of effective intervention.”
The test could matter most for people with a family history of pancreatic cancer, pancreatic cysts or chronic pancreatitis. It would not replace standard imaging. The idea is a less invasive first screen that helps doctors spot high-risk patients early enough for a closer look.
These are early findings, and the test is still experimental. Anyone with a family history or symptoms that worry them should talk to their doctor.
