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The Pancreas

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Tiredretiredlawyer
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The Pancreas

#1

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions- ... tment.html
Warning Signs of Pancreatic Cancer and Advances in Treatment
Survival rates have risen and there are new treatments, but early diagnosis is key


Twenty years ago, getting a pancreatic cancer diagnosis was very often devastating. The cancer usually wasn’t caught until later stages, partly because the pancreas is tucked behind the stomach, making it hard to detect tumors. Plus, many of the warning signs — abdominal discomfort, back pain, unintended weight loss and fatigue — are easy to overlook or write off as something else, entirely. And they often arise late in the game.

Today, however, the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer has more than doubled from where it was two decades ago, at around 4 percent. And if the disease is caught early and the tumor is small and confined to the pancreas, the survival rate is around 42 percent, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).

A surge in research funding is partly responsible for this good news. With stronger support, pancreatic cancer research is making huge advances. Scientists are developing new ways to screen for the cancer so that it can be caught earlier, and they are designing new drugs and procedures to help treat it.

Shubham Pant, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, is hopeful that some of these breakthrough treatments will help to “double the rate of survival in the next five years.”
8 WARNING SIGNS OF PANCREATIC CANCER
Treatment is more likely to be effective the sooner the cancer is caught.

Abdominal discomfort in the mid to upper abdomen that often radiates to the back
New onset diabetes or worsening blood sugar levels, especially with weight loss
Darkening of urine and lightening of stool
Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes)
Itching
Nausea and vomiting
Fatigue
Loss of appetite and unintentional weight loss
Advances in detection and treatment
THE GREAT PROMISE OF TARGETED THERAPY
Up to 25 percent of pancreatic cancer patients have unique molecular alterations in their tumors. Now researchers can study these differences using technologies such as molecular profiling, which allows doctors to target treatments individually. A large study published in 2020 in The Lancet Oncology found that pancreatic cancer patients who received tailored drug therapy based on their tumor’s unique characteristics lived an average of one year longer than those who did not receive targeted therapy.

USING THE BREAST CANCER DRUG LYNPARZA

Mary Phillips was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer in March 2016. At first she took the latest combination chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. Then she enrolled in a clinical trial of the drug Lynparza (olaparib). Because the medication was already being used by some patients with breast or ovarian cancer (those with a mutation in their BRCA or DNA repairing genes), researchers thought that it could be useful for pancreatic cancer patients with the same mutations.

Early findings in this area have been promising. A 2019 study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, reported that patients with such a BRCA mutation who took Lynparza for metastatic pancreatic cancer had no new tumor growth, and no spread of their cancer, for twice as many months as those not receiving the drug. Still, there was no difference in long-term survival past 18 months. In December 2019, the Food and Drug Administration approved the medication for maintenance therapy for this group of patients.

DELIVERING MORE WITH GUIDED RADIATION THERAPY
Norman Kravetz, of Boynton Beach, Florida, was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer in 2019. He had six months of intensive chemotherapy, followed by cutting-edge MRI-guided radiation therapy at the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center in Boston. The new technology combines two ways of targeting the tumor to increase precision.

Without magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guidance, radiation therapy can be technically challenging because of the location of the pancreas in the middle of the abdomen. “MRI guidance allows us to visualize and accurately deliver radiation treatment in order to treat the tumor with high doses of radiation while reducing the radiation dose to nearby vital structures, thereby reducing the risk of side effects,” explains Joseph Mancias, M.D., Kravetz’s radiation oncologist at Dana-Farber.

After the six months of chemo and just one week of the new radiation treatment (usually available at major medical centers across the country), Kravetz saw his tumor shrink, and in early 2020 he was able to have surgery to remove it.

Without magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guidance, radiation therapy can be technically challenging because of the location of the pancreas in the middle of the abdomen. “MRI guidance allows us to visualize and accurately deliver radiation treatment in order to treat the tumor with high doses of radiation while reducing the radiation dose to nearby vital structures, thereby reducing the risk of side effects,” explains Joseph Mancias, M.D., Kravetz’s radiation oncologist at Dana-Farber.

After the six months of chemo and just one week of the new radiation treatment (usually available at major medical centers across the country), Kravetz saw his tumor shrink, and in early 2020 he was able to have surgery to remove it.
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.
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much ado
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The Pancreas

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Post by much ado »

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: Mon Mar 06, 2023 7:04 pm https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions- ... tment.html

Advances in detection and treatment
THE GREAT PROMISE OF TARGETED THERAPY
Up to 25 percent of pancreatic cancer patients have unique molecular alterations in their tumors. Now researchers can study these differences using technologies such as molecular profiling, which allows doctors to target treatments individually. A large study published in 2020 in The Lancet Oncology found that pancreatic cancer patients who received tailored drug therapy based on their tumor’s unique characteristics lived an average of one year longer than those who did not receive targeted therapy.
This is what our son works on. The company he works for recently received FDA approval for a "liquid biopsy" technique for determining what mutations are present in lung cancer tumors from DNA found in the patient's blood. He develops the algorithms that find the mutations from the recovered DNA sequences.

He says that they are currently working on the same techniques for pancreatic cancer.

Here's his company's press release...
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Agilent Resolution ctDx FIRST as a companion diagnostic (CDx) to identify advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with KRAS G12C mutations who may benefit from treatment with KRAZATITM (adagrasib).

The ctDx FIRST assay uses novel propriety technology to detect genomic alterations in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) from plasma. This minimally invasive approach is preferred by 90% of cancer patients compared to more invasive tissue biopsy tests. In addition, liquid biopsy overcomes some limitations encountered with tissue-based methods providing a notably faster turn-around time to potentially accelerate treatment decisions.
Agilent Resolution ctDx FIRST Receives FDA Approval as a Liquid Biopsy Companion Diagnostic Test for Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer
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Phoenix520
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The Pancreas

#3

Post by Phoenix520 »

:clap: :clap:

You must be a proud papa.
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much ado
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The Pancreas

#4

Post by much ado »

Phoenix520 wrote: Mon Mar 06, 2023 10:33 pm :clap: :clap:

You must be a proud papa.
Sure am. :like:
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Tiredretiredlawyer
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The Pancreas

#5

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

Bravo!!!!!!!! Kudos to your son!!!!!
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.
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