Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. There are 42,000 new cases and 35,000 deaths expected in 2010, according to the American Cancer Society. This form of cancer is only found before it has spread only 7 percent of the time. Most patients are in stage 3 or 4 by the time it is diagnosed. To make matters worse, it isn't a very easy cancer to treat and prevent from recurring. "This disease is a killer," says David V. Gold PhD, of the Garden State Cancer Center in Belleville, N.J., "Only 2-3 percent of patients will survive for five years." However, hope looms on the horizon with a new test and a possible way to treat this cancer better.
In a recent study, it has been shown that a protein called PAM4 is present it the largest majority of pancreatic cancers. "This protein appears to be very specific for pancreatic cancer. It's [rarely] found in normal tissue or other cancers," says Gold. It also will rule out pancreatitis and detects pancreatic cancer, overall, 81 percent of the time.
By catching this cancer early, it will give doctors a better chance of saving the patients life by starting treatment sooner. In this study, an antibody was used. It works like a heat seeking missile and focuses on the PAM4 protein, then attaches itself to it. This is a good thing, because now this antibody can be injected into the body with radioactive isotopes and drug therapies attached and go directly to the cancer cells. This would kill those cancer cells effectively, while preventing damage to healthy tissue. "In the study, tumors shrank in 23 percent of the patients and stopped growing in an additional 45%," Gold says.
"The goal of the new test is to provide a tool for the detection of early-stage disease," he says. If cancer is detected early, a patient's chance of surviving five years jumps to 20%, according to Gold.The test for the PAM4 protein should be available 2 or 3 years. Gold believes that this test will be used to screen those at high risk for developing pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic Cancer Risks
There are several risk factors that make you at high risk for eventually developing pancreatic cancer. They are:
- Long-term diabetes
- Chronic pancreatitis
- History of tobacco or alcohol use
- Family history or genetic factors, including those who have the BRCA2 gene mutation
- Overweight or obese
- Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome
- Familial atypical mole-malignant melanoma (FAMMM)
- Lynch Syndrome
- Older age (mostly 70s and 80s, but not limited to this age range)
- Being black
If you have any of these risk factors, be sure to talk to your doctor to see if this test, once available, is right for you.
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