Pancreatic Cancer

Research

Mayo Clinic is one of the few medical centers in the country recognized as a Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) for pancreas cancer research. The program, funded by the National Cancer Institute, focuses on finding new strategies for the early detection and treatment of pancreatic cancer for people who currently have few therapeutic options

Mayo Clinic is also actively involved in a large multi-site study conducted by the Pancreatic Cancer Genetic Epidemiology (PACGENE) Consortium that is looking at the role heredity plays in the disease. To aid this research, Mayo Clinic has created the world's largest patient and tissue registry for pancreatic cancer, with over 2,300 enrolled patients.

Mayo Clinic researchers are also studying other potential predictors of pancreatic cancer. A landmark study published in 2008 found that 40 percent of pancreatic cancer patients are diagnosed with diabetes prior to their pancreatic cancer diagnosis — in some cases as long as two years before cancer is discovered. The evidence suggests that in most patients with pancreatic cancer, diabetes is caused by the cancer and not the other way around. The next step is to identify a biomarker for pancreatic cancer-induced diabetes to use as a screening tool so that cancer can be detected in its earliest, most treatable stage.

Mayo Publications

See a list of publications by Mayo Clinic doctors on kidney stones on PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine.