Progress is underway in the early detection of pancreatic cancer. Researchers have discovered a marker capable of detecting pancreatic cancer. Absent in the case of benign pancreatic tumor, this marker would be present in 90% of cancers. It is a glycoprotein, mucin.

Huge progress has been made in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

– Advances in anesthesia mean that we can operate on people over 70 years old which was impossible before because it is a complicated operation.

– Surgeons are able to remove more cancer cells, even when they have reached nearby organs.

– Thanks to advances in medical imaging (MRI), we know much better how to assess the limits of the tumor, so the surgeon knows better how to delimit the extension of the tumor and operate accordingly.

So today there are series of people with pancreatic cancer who have lived more than 20 years after the removal of the pancreas. And yet, these people were operated on 20 years ago, without benefiting from recent progress.

Dre Catherine Solano.