New method for early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer

A group of scientists from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) announced on March 18 that they had found a method to diagnose pancreatic cancer at an earlier stage than currently possible, opening up hope of saving the lives of many patients with this disease.

Illustration photo. (Source: funscrape.com)

With an accuracy of up to 97%, the steps of this method are similar to the conventional endoscopy method. Specifically, the team of experts conducts a test in which a tube is placed inside the patient's mouth and then threaded down to the stomach.

The difference compared to endoscopy is that this tube will take ultrasound images of the patient's body parts to help doctors examine and identify tumors better.

According to study co-author Karolina Jabbar, the method is not only expected to detect cancer early, when it can be prevented or treated, but also reduce the risk of having to perform unnecessary surgery.

In addition to newly discovered tumors, pre-existing tumors can also be tested with this method, with an accuracy rate of 90%, making it easier to determine if a patient needs immediate surgery or not.

Only 5% of pancreatic cancer patients live more than 5 years after diagnosis because tumors often grow silently and metastasize to other parts of the body before being detected./.

According to VNA