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Battling 'the Most Deadly Cancer'

Posted on: Saturday, 26 January 2008, 09:00 CST

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center researchers have found molecules that are present at high levels in pancreatic cancer patients' blood, potentially opening the door to a blood test for the nation's fourth-leading cancer killer. The research appeared in this month's issue of the journal, Pancreas.

If researchers know which biomarkers are unique to early stage pancreatic cancer, they can begin to work on ways to screen for them. One such test now is on the market but is insufficient for early pancreatic cancer diagnosis, said author Jay Hanas, a health sciences center professor of biochemistry and molecular biology.

Hanas also is part of the OU Southwest Program for Pancreatic Cancer.

"If there were some sort of blood test for pancreatic cancer before the overt symptoms appear, then the cure rate would be much higher," he said.

Early detection is possible Pancreatic cancer is virtually a death sentence, with a five-year survival rate of 4 percent. By the time patients are diagnosed with the disease, it often has spread to the liver and elsewhere. Jaundice and excruciating back pain are commonly seen among such patients.

"Usually by the time it's diagnosed, it's too late," Hanas said. "Pancreatic cancer in that respect is probably the most deadly cancer."

Blood tests are ideal, he said, because they are not invasive. The idea is that cancer -- for that matter, any illness -- causes the body to secrete molecules in response. If these can be found and screened, early detection of their causes is possible.

"All these different diseases will create a different serum profile," he said of the chemicals and molecules in the blood.

For pancreatic cancer patients, Hanas found large concentrations of unidentified molecules. He said he found 20 indicators unique to pancreatic cancer and identified about 150 that may be unique to pancreatic cancer.

Hanas began the research about five years ago and has received funding from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, the Department of Defense and the Department of Surgery at the OU Health Sciences Center.

What's next for research? Now that Hanas has targets, he plans to examine whether the molecules he has discovered are found in the blood of patients with other cancers or unrelated illnesses. He also plans to separate blood samples of pancreatic cancer patients by cancer stage, or severity level, to see if the molecules appear similarly among them.

Cancers are categorized in four stages depending on tumor sizes and whether they have spread.

Hanas, who has been with OU Health Sciences Center for 23 years, tested the blood of roughly 36 pancreatic cancer sufferers and 36 healthy adults.

The test will be available within five years, according to a health sciences center news release. The tests could be given to those at risk of developing pancreatic cancer, such as smokers, diabetics and those who have had pancreatitis.

Liz Thompson, director of research for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, said a blood test, even if only for high-risk families, would be "terrific."

Thompson called Hanas' work "interesting" and "provocative" but noted researchers elsewhere will need to show they can replicate it. Another promising pancreatic research program, at The Johns Hopkins University, uses ultrasound to find small tumors or precancerous cells, she said.

Source: The Daily Oklahoman/NIH

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