Early Detection, Education Are Key to Combat Rising Pancreatic Cancer Cases

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, once the fifth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in 2003, is on pace to become the second-leading type of cancer-related mortality by 2030, according to Jose G. Trevino, II, MD, FACS.

CancerNetwork® spoke with Trevino about key considerations for improving the detection and management of pancreatic cancer, specifically pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, as cancer-related deaths continue to increase in the field. He emphasized educating patients and physicians alike to recognize potential red flags associated with disease, including certain genetic mutations and lifestyle choices like smoking. According to Trevino, early detection of these diseases will be key for impacting patient outcomes.

Trevino is chair of the Division of Surgical Oncology and an associate professor in the Department of Surgery at VCU School of Medicine as well as surgeon-in-chief and Walter Lawrence, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Oncology at VCU Massey Cancer Center.

Transcript:

At this point, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, by the year 2030, will be the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US. When I first started doing this research in 2003, and when I first decided that I was going to focus my career on pancreatic cancer and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma alone, it was the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths. While we have done amazing things in other cancers—we’re talking breast, melanoma, prostate, lung, [and colorectal], [including improving] screening programs that we [use] have just been tremendous. Pancreatic cancer will be the No. 2 leading cause of cancer-related deaths by the year 2030, and that’s not too far away.

What does that say? It says that this disease has done its due diligence to control a lot of patients within this country. It has devastated many people and families alike. Therefore, if I was going to say anything, I would say there has to be a ton of education to our patients and our physicians who see patients on a primary level to know what those red flags are when a patient comes to their clinic. Early detection of early lesions that could eventually turn into pancreatic adenocarcinoma is going to be the key to survival, ultimately. [If we] catch it before it becomes a cancer, we solve a huge problem. Genetic mutations, smoking, and changes to the pancreas that can have endocrine or exocrine dysfunction [are] all incredibly important. Therefore, early detection of early lesions is key.

The second thing is early detection of early cancer. In other words, when the current cancer develops, to not ignore the symptoms that can somehow be ignored by not only our patients but also our own primary care physicians who don’t see the changes that are happening that are consistent.

Education is incredibly important to save lives for early-stage pancreatic cancer. Then, ultimately, the last thing [is to] support all the translational research that you could consider. Clinical trials are key. At the end of the day, when you think about clinical trials and how we’re trying to do new therapies—whether they are multiple targeted [agents] or chemotherapies to try to cure this disease—are important. Involvement from patients and physicians in clinical trials is incredibly important and going to be most impactful.