Deadly pancreatic cancer can be spotted in your faeces in major 'breakthrough'
dailyrecord.co.ukPancreatic cancer could be diagnosed by a new non-invasive and rapid test, according to a new study. Scientists could identify people at high risk of the most common form of pancreatic cancer using the test.
Pancreatic cancer is deadly and can be very difficult to treat - only one in four people survive one year or more after diagnosis.The stool sample test finds 27 microbes, mostly bacteria, and could tell apart people without pancreatic cancer and those with the disease, both in early and advanced stages.A microbiome is a collection of fungi, bacteria and viruses living inside our bodies that are known to interact with the immune system.Part-funded by Worldwide Cancer research, the study was published in the medical journal titled Gut.
It involved 136 people, including 57 with pancreatic cancer (25 early stage and 32 advanced), 50 without cancer acting as controls, and 29 patients with chronic pancreatitis, where the pancreas has become permanently damaged by inflammation.
Experts from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) concluded it is "feasible" for a screening programme to be developed using stool samples that may help pick up pancreatic cancer.A patent has been applied for development of a pancreatic cancer diagnostic kit that detects the microorganisms in stool samples in a rapid way.Dr Helen Rippon, chief executive of Worldwide Cancer Research, said: "This new breakthrough builds on the growing evidence that the microbiome - the collection of microorganisms that live side by side with the cells inside our body - is linked to the development of cancer."What's amazing about this discovery is that the microbiome of stool samples from patients could
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