The search for a liquid biopsy for the early detection of pancreatic cancer summons top European experts in this tumor at the CNIO

Pancreatic cancer is usually detected in advanced stages, often resulting in death within a year of diagnosis. The main focus of research is on early detection. Europe’s leading researchers in this tumor are working to diagnose pancreatic cancer years before symptoms appear, with a blood test.

They have presented their advances at the CNIO (Spanish National Cancer Research Center), at the general assembly of the European project PANCAID (Pancreatic Cancer Initial Detection by Liquid Biopsy), a consortium of centers from eight countries, including CNIO.

Led at the CNIO by Nùria Malats and Héctor Peinado, PANCAID will receive a total funding of 9.8 million euros from the European Commission (EC) until 2027.

“Less than 6% of pancreatic cancer cases are detected today in early stages, when they can be removed with surgery,” explained Klaus Pantel, coordinator of PANCAID and director of the Institute of Tumor Biology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (Germany). “If we manage to double or even quadruple this percentage, more patients will survive. That’s why we want to detect pancreatic cancer years before symptoms appear. Symptoms occur at late stages.”

Telltale traces of the tumor

The goal is to develop a liquid biopsy, a minimally invasive blood test to alert of a tumor in its early stages of development. The researchers are looking for detectable biomarkers in blood that alert to the presence of the tumor, such as tumor cell by-products, metabolites or proteins.

To this end, blood samples will be collected and analyzed from patients with pancreatic cancer, and from people with precursor lesions and/or at risk (for example, patients with genetic predisposition).

Once potential biomarkers have been identified, artificial intelligence (AI) will be used to determine the best biomarkers and their combinations. Finally, a multicenter clinical trial will validate the efficacy of the new blood test.

“We have managed to bring together at the CNIO the leading experts in liquid biopsy in Europe to tackle a very difficult problem: detecting a disease before it becomes lethal,” says Peinado. “One of the conclusions is that the goal is possible, but it will require an effort of coordination and analysis.” In addition, the economic impact of early detection and the epidemiological aspects of the disease have been analyzed.

“We need the support of patients”

“We are making progress but it is an ambitious project,” says Malats. “What is costing us the most is reaching the numbers of samples we need. It is very important to have the support of the medical community and the patients. We all need to be aware of the importance of pancreatic cancer research.”

The biomarkers analyzed are in very small quantities in the blood, so it is key to collect sufficient samples from patients. In addition to using those already available in European biobanks, PANCAID will initiate a study with a hundred patients.

Pancreatic cancer on the rise

Every year more than 8,000 cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common type of pancreatic cancer, are diagnosed in Spain. In the European Union as a whole there are more than 150,000 cases. The incidence is increasing, and in a younger than usual population as well, a phenomenon whose cause is still unknown.

At a recent meeting at the CNIO of Pancreatic Cancer Europe, a platform of researchers, oncologists, patients, pharmaceutical companies and European institutions to define the roadmap of actions that would drive advances in pancreatic cancer, the need to boost research into a tumor that they describe as “forgotten”, due to the few treatment options still available, was highlighted.

Image: CNIO researchers Héctor Peinado and Nùria Malats, with PANCAID coordinator Klaus Pantel in the center. / Mónica G. Salomone. CNIO