One of the world’s largest centers for cancer research and treatment, City of Hope, has developed a new experimental blood test for detecting pancreatic cancer at an early stage. The liquid biopsy, called PANXEON, can identify the disease at a stage when it is still potentially treatable and curable.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest diseases, with only 14% of patients surviving five years after diagnosis. The main reason is late detection: in 90% of cases, the tumor is discovered only after it has already metastasized, when the chances of a cure are minimal.
According to an international study published in Nature Medicine, involving nearly 1,800 patients from the United States, Europe and Asia, PANXEON demonstrated high sensitivity. The test correctly detected stage 1 and stage 2 pancreatic cancer in 87% of cases. At the same time, the false-positive rate was only 3% in low-risk groups and 16% in high-risk groups.
Notably, the blood test also identified high-grade dysplasia — a precancerous condition of the pancreas — in 64% of cases. This condition is sometimes referred to as “stage zero” disease. This could allow doctors to determine more precisely which pancreatic cysts require active monitoring or surgical intervention before they progress to invasive cancer.
Unlike many similar tests, PANXEON analyzes not one but three markers of pancreatic cancer in a blood sample: circulating microRNAs, exosomal microRNAs and the CA19-9 protein. After the blood sample is collected, artificial intelligence (AI) combines the measurements of all three biomarkers and calculates a single, precise risk score for the patient.
“Most biomarkers show us only one part of the picture, while combining several biological signals gives us a much clearer view of what is happening in the pancreas. Pancreatic cancer is so deadly largely because we find it when the window for a cure is already closing. The earlier we detect the disease, the greater the chance of effective intervention,” explains the study’s lead author and head of the Department of Molecular Diagnostics, Ajay Goel.
The new test could be particularly important for people with a family history of pancreatic cancer (genetic risk), pancreatic cysts or chronic pancreatitis. Although PANXEON does not replace conventional imaging diagnostics, it represents a reliable, less invasive initial screening tool that could help doctors identify high-risk patients in time for further, more detailed evaluation.
