Simple test that will help beat cancer of pancreas
A SIMPLE urine test to detect pancreatic cancer could boost survival rates by more than 50 per cent.
The non-invasive test – which could soon be available for public use – is the first in the world to detect cancer in its early stages.
Almost 10,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year in the UK, but only five in every 100 patients will live for five years or more beyond their diagnosis.
This is the lowest survival rate of any common cancer and is partly due to late diagnosis.
More than 85 per cent of patients are diagnosed too late for surgery, limiting options.
But Prof Tatjana CrnogoracJurcevic, who developed the urine test, believes it could boost the five-year survival rate to “around 60 per cent”.
Prof Crnogorac-Jurcevic, of Barts Cancer Institute in London, told how his creation had reached the final stage of validation before being developed for use by patients.
He said: “We’ve been working on this biomarker research for over 10 years and I’m excited to reach this stage. If we can detect their treatment pancreatic cancer when it’s still operable and when the tumours are small and have not yet spread to other organs, we could see a significant impact on patient survival.
“Removing tumours 1cm or smaller can increase five-year survival to around 60 per cent.”
The test works by measuring the levels of three specific proteins found in urine.
It will now be trialled as part of a £1.6million clinical study of more than 3,000 people, funded by the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund.
If the accuracy of the test is confirmed, a standardised urine test will be developed for clinicians to use during diagnoses.
Will Chiles, 47, lost his wife Claire to pancreatic cancer in May 2015. The 50-year-old was diagnosed with the disease five weeks before her death.
Mr Chiles, from Coventry, believes his wife could still be alive today if the urine test had been available then.
He said: “We’re not quite sure but the bottom line is she may well have had a chance. She didn’t even have a chance to get chemotherapy.
“If it means somebody’s odds are better to live, to survive, then it’s a no-brainer.”