🩸 A new blood test detects 86.8% of early pancreatic cancers

A simple experimental blood test detected 86.8% of stage I and II pancreatic cancers in a large international study.

The cancer studied was pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common form of the disease. Detecting it early remains difficult. A small tumor may cause few symptoms and release very little measurable evidence into the blood. The researchers therefore looked not for a single signal, but for a combination of several biological indicators.

Their method analyzes ten microRNAs. These very small molecules help regulate gene activity, and their levels can change when a tumor is present. The researchers established a signature based on their concentrations in the blood. This first part of the test detected 83.8% of early cancers in the group used for the final evaluation.

The team then combined this signature with CA19-9, a molecule already measured in some patients with pancreatic cancer. The resulting score, called PANXEON, raised sensitivity to 86.8% for stage I and II cancers. In other words, about 87 out of 100 patients were correctly identified in this part of the study.

However, good screening must not only find people who are ill. It must also avoid unnecessarily alarming those who are not. In the control group considered to be at low risk, the combined test produced 3.2% false-positive results. This rate reached 15.6% among participants at high risk.

The prospective, multicenter study included 1,785 people with or without cancer across four countries. The researchers divided the participants into several groups to develop and then test their method. They also verified that the microRNA signature responded little to other digestive cancers, reducing the risk of confusing several diseases.

A small group of 19 patients provided another interesting clue. The microRNA signal decreased during chemotherapy administered before surgery and after the operation. It rose again before the disease recurred. This observation is based on only a few people, but it opens up the possibility of studying treatment monitoring as well.

The authors are now calling for larger prospective studies to confirm its performance in the populations where it could actually be used. In particular, it will be necessary to determine which patients would benefit most from this type of blood test and how to handle positive results.