A new clinical study seeks to increase survival rates for pancreatic cancer patients.
The pancreas is a gland that helps with digestion and regulating blood sugar.
Illinois CancerCare is part of the PRECEDE Consortium of more than 30 medical centers around the world working to improve early detection, screening, and prevention efforts. Dr. Kimberly Ku is an oncologist who works in Pekin and Bloomington. She says pancreatic cancer grows quickly and is much harder to treat in its later stages.
"There's really not going to be anyone cured at stage four, or having even long lifetimes at stage four," she said. "It's very difficult to cure stage two or three, and even those treatments can be very involved, like chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and (you) still have pretty high recurrence rates. So we're really trying to catch the moment that we can ideally even detect it."
Ku says the study offers screening for people who have high risk factors for pancreatic cancer, but aren't currently diagnosed.
"They can undergo screening through this study, whereas before, there wasn't really a formal way to screen for pancreatic cancer," Ku said. "So things like getting an MRI looking at the pancreas, or getting an endoscopic evaluation, and even doing blood tests looking for microscopic cancer cells."
The study is looking at several aspects of what might predispose a patient to contracting pancreatic cancer. Genetics are one. Pancreatic cysts are another, as are recurrent pancreatitis. Lifestyle choices like alcohol usage or smoking can also be factors.
Ku says the key is catching and removing pancreatic cancer while it's still tiny, and before it can move into the bloodstream. That's challenging. Ku says it's easy for the cancer to spread because the pancreas is situated in the middle of a lot of the body's blood vasculature.
"Pancreatic cancer may not be the top in terms of how often you see it, but in terms of how fatal it is, then we're talking about it being higher up in terms of how dangerous it can be," she said.
Illinois CancerCare partnered for this study with the Theresa Tracy Trot, an East Peoria-based group that works to raise pancreatic cancer awareness and prevention.
