A new breath test for pancreatic cancer could create a “revolution” in patient care, experts said.
The British news agency (PA Media) reported – today, Wednesday – that an experiment is currently being conducted to determine the effectiveness of the world’s first respiratory test for this disease, which is known to be difficult to detect in its early stages.
The Pancreatic Cancer Foundation in the United Kingdom, which is funding the study, said that launching the trial is considered “the most important step towards achieving a breakthrough that would have saved lives 50 years ago.”
It is noteworthy that the mysterious symptoms of the disease, which include back pain and indigestion, mean that the disease is often not discovered until it spreads to other parts of the body.
A recent review of pancreatic cancer conducted in England and Wales revealed that most pancreatic cancer patients are diagnosed at a late stage, with 62% of patients in England and 65% of patients in Wales being diagnosed at stage four.
It is noteworthy that survival rates for this type of cancer are particularly low, as approximately 22% of those infected in England do not survive for 30 days after being diagnosed, compared to 21% of those infected in Wales.