Ultrasound examination sometimes has difficulty accurately capturing small PC lesions due to the interference of gases in the gastrointestinal tract, preventing it from being a screening method for early-stage PC detection. The imaging diagnostic methods include abdominal ultrasound, CT, MRI, and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). Traditional diagnostic methodsĪt present, there remain challenges in developing imaging examination and tumor markers for early-stage PC diagnosis.

When PC patients have UICC stage 0, stage I A, and stage I B disease, the postoperative 5-year survival rates are 85.8%, 68.7%, and 59.7%, respectively. Moreover, surgical resection achieved a 5-year survival rate of 80.4% for PC patients whose tumors were 1 cm or less. Surgical resection alone may provide a cure for PC at an early stage, especially for tumors with a diameter less than 1 cm. It is generally accepted that the combination of surgical resection with postoperative chemotherapy serves as the most effective strategy for PC treatment. The imperceptible symptoms at an early-stage cause patients to miss their best chance for diagnosis and therapy. The 5-year survival rate is as low as 10%, despite the advent of new drugs in the past decade.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and the estimated numbers of new cases and deaths are 60,430 and 48,220 in 2021, respectively.

Download diagnosing pancreatic cancer