Although pancreatic cancer is the tenth most common cancer in the United States, it consistently ranks fourth in terms of deaths, according to Pannochka, an online publication for girls and women aged 14 to 35.. net Such sad statistics is due to the fact that 9 out of 10 cases of pancreatic cancer are diagnosed at a late stage, when effective treatment is no longer possible.

In a new pilot study, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Florida used a simple oxygen-sensor endoscope that could in the future be used to diagnose early pancreatic cancer with a simple procedure..

The results of the study are described in the journal Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

The study involved two small groups of patients. The first group included 14 patients with already confirmed pancreatic cancer, and the second group included 10 healthy volunteers..

New device demonstrates 92% sensitivity and 86% specificity in diagnosing pancreatic cancer. In other words, the procedure identified 92% of patients with the disease and ruled out cancer in 86% of healthy people..

The device is a conventional endoscope - a thin and flexible tube with illumination and a camera at the end.. Attached to it is an oxygen sensor - such as in pulse oximeters that measure blood oxygenation in patients.

The sensor detects changes in blood flow in adjacent tissues This simple device detects changes in blood flow in tissues near the pancreas. His work is based on the logical assumption that a fast-growing cancer requires a lot of blood and oxygen for its growth..

To diagnose, you need to enter the endoscope through the stomach and duodenum closer to the place where the pancreas is located.. Thus, the procedure is bloodless..

Lead researcher Michael Wallace, a gastroenterologist and professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, says there is currently only one definitive way to diagnose pancreatic cancer: a pancreatic biopsy.. He states: “We need new ways to effectively diagnose pancreatic cancer as early and as easy as possible.”.

He says that despite the modest size of the study, the results look promising.. Therefore, now scientists intend to confirm the effectiveness of the device in the course of larger studies in the United States and Europe..

A different approach to diagnosing cancer.

Professor says their new method is very different from those used to diagnose cancer today. The fundamental difference is that modern methods are based on the search for an answer in the tumor itself, but here it is enough to examine nearby tissues and find indirect evidence of the presence of cancer - increased blood flow.

“It is based on a phenomenon that is becoming more and more famous - the “cancer field effect” (cancer field effect). Instead of looking for a needle in a haystack, we try to inspect the haystack and figure out where the needle might be,” explains the researcher..

In addition to promising work on the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, scientists are testing the effectiveness of a new device in the search for colon cancer and esophageal cancer..

In essence, the endoscope and colonoscope give access to both areas, and the principle of operation remains the same..

The study was assisted by the National Institutes of Health and Mayo Clinic's own Foundation for Medical Education and Research..

In March 2013, Medical News Today reported on the development of Japanese scientists. They found a way to diagnose pancreatic cancer using metabolic analysis. This method demonstrated a sensitivity of 71.4% and a specificity of 78.1%.

medbe. en.