Pancreatic cancer has a very low survival rate. But then, the question is why.
Contrary to popular belief, not all types of cancer are difficult to treat. Thyroid cancer, for example, has a nearly 100% survival rate if it's diagnosed in its earliest stages. But even if it's already in stage 4, most types of thyroid cancer have at least 50% survival.
But it's a completely different story when we talk about pancreatic cancer. More than 45,000 are expected to be diagnosed with it in the United States every year, but only 6% can live past the average median survival of 5 years. Most lose their lives during the months to a year after diagnosis.
One of the main reasons is that it takes a long time before it gets diagnosed. Often, the patient doesn't show any symptoms until the disease is already in the late stages. Thus, researchers are currently trying to come up with a more reliable detection tool.
The researchers of Moffitt Cancer Center, for example, have discovered microRNAs that may inform a health care provider whether a patient is high risk in developing intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs). These are lesions that develop in the pancreas and are a precursor of pancreatic cancer. Like polyps in the colon, they can be either benign or malignant, in which case they're bound to cause cancer.
Although they may be detected through blood and imaging tests, the best option is surgical removal, but that is also a high-risk procedure low-risk patients should not go through.
The researchers are therefore using microRNAs to help them identify the level of risks of IPMNs. Based on their analyses of microRNA molecules in removed IPMN tissues from patients treated in the cancer center, they discovered that at least 6 microRNAs may influence IPMNs.
The goal is to hopefully develop a blood test that's specifically for microRNAs.