New hope arises for ‘lethal’ pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer, one of the most brutal and deadly diseases, sees approximately 10,800 new cases annually – 30 each day, in the UK – according to Cancer Research UK.

It is the fifth most lethal and tenth most common cancer in the UK, notes Pancreatic Cancer Action.

Heather Archbold, health information and research manager at Pancreatic Cancer Action, mentioned a sad reality: "The majority of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer are dead within three months."

"Forty-four per cent of cases are diagnosed in A&E, where it is often too late for curative treatment,” she added.

Consequently, only 10 per cent of patients are diagnosed in time for life-saving surgery.

But a potential vaccine is now being considered to treat pancreatic cancer patients, as well as bowel cancer patients.

Findings published in the journal Nature Medicine, have revealed that in an early trial featuring pancreatic and bowel cancer patients, the groundbreaking new jab appears capable of slowing progression of the disease and boosting survival chances.

The vaccine works by harnessing the body’s own immune system to target specific cells, called KRAS-mutant cancer cells, and the pancreatic cancer patients in the study, on average, survived around two years and five months after receiving the vaccine.

Study lead Dr Zev Wainberg, from the University of California, Los Angeles, said: “Pancreas cancer (patients) even after all standard treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation, still have very high risks of the cancer coming back.”

“Our results show, in the group of patients who had profound immune responses (17/25, 68 per cent) achieved longer survival than we have expected in this cancer, quite a remarkable finding to occur in a phase 1 trial,” he explained.

One of the major issues with pancreatic cancer is that symptoms can be “vague” and “masquerade as other less threatening illnesses” like irritable bowel syndrome and gallstones, “so a lot of people will not tend to worry about them or present to the GP with them until it’s too late,” explains Archbold.

The expert continued, “Even when they do present, GPs don’t often recognise the signs and symptoms, so it’s definitely one of the most misdiagnosed of all the common cancers.”

“Time is of the essence with pancreatic cancer,” she continues. “We encourage everyone to trust their instincts and see a healthcare professional if they notice unusual symptoms, no matter how small they may seem. Early diagnosis saves lives,” she concluded.