Pancreatic cancer: a neglected killer?

Abstract

Annual awareness campaigns for lung and pancreatic cancer were well-publicised last month. These two diseases have similarities: both have dire consequences, both are highly prevalent, and research efforts are proportionally underfunded. However, public perceptions of these two diseases are rather different: sympathy for the former is muted because patients are often deemed to have brought it upon themselves by virtue of their lifestyle, while the latter is barely visible in the public eye. Despite being in the top five causes of cancer death and affecting the lives of up to 300 000 people worldwide each year, research in to pancreatic cancer has yielded modest results and 5-year survival has remained stubbornly around 3% for the past 40 years. Why so? And is this disease truly a lost cause? New-onset diabetes: a potential clue to the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancerPancreatic cancer has a dismal prognosis because cancer-specific symptoms occur only at an advanced stage. If the cancer is to be discovered early, screening will need to be done in asymptomatic individuals. Because the incidence of pancreatic cancer is low, screening for asymptomatic cancer in the general population is not feasible; therefore, screening will need to be restricted to people at high risk of this disease. The proportion of patients with pancreatic cancer who also have hyperglycaemia or diabetes has previously been under appreciated. Full-Text PDF