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news.Researchers at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center have found that adults over 50 who are newly diagnosed with hyperglycemic diabetes are eight times more likely to develop pancreatic cancer than the average same-age individual.
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A population-based study showed that the risk of adults over 50 developing the cancer within three years after a new diagnosis of diabetes is eight times higher than for the average same-age individual.
“Pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect until it is in an advanced stage, leaving little hope for patients,” said Suresh Chari, lead investigator of the study. “This study is important, because it leads us closer to finding indicators that will allow earlier detection and treatment.”
Pancreatic cancer claims nearly all the lives of patients, with 32,000 deaths in the US each year. Patients with this type of cancer rarely exhibit disease-specific symptoms until the cancer is at an advanced stage. Two major obstacles prevent physicians from making an early diagnosis – the lack of a high-risk group and a lack of a PSA-like blood test for pancreatic cancer. The new study indicates that new-onset diabetes defines a high-risk group for pancreatic cancer.
The team of researchers is now attempting to identify a marker in the blood that will enable them to distinguish diabetes associated with pancreatic cancer from the more common type 2 diabetes. This in turn will allow the team to screen patients with new-onset diabetes to detect pancreatic cancer before it spreads.