A surgeon from Australia has begun a research project to try and discover more about how tumours linked to pancreatic cancer develop.
The prognosis for a patient with pancreatic cancer can vary greatly from person to person, but according to a recent report by the Sydney Morning Herald, no one knows why exactly this is. Australian surgeon Dr David Chang is now determined to discover more about the underlying biology behind tumours and how they develop and react.
Cancer of the pancreas is not one of the more prevalent forms of the disease, however, around 7,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with it each year. It mostly occurs in people between the ages of 50 and 80, although people of any age can suffer from pancreatic cancer. It is a serious form of cancer and because there are relatively few symptoms in the early stages, it is often not often picked up until it is at an advanced stage. For pancreatic cancers that cannot be cured, there are treatments available to help make patients more comfortable and slow the growth of the tumour.
If the cancer is small then surgery may be the best option for a patient, although chemotherapy is also used as a treatment. Dr Chang said patients that are suffering from a poor prognostic tumour and have a cancer that is likely to return after a short time if surgery is carried out would be better treated with chemotherapy. However, those patients with a good prognostic tumour would be better to undergo surgery to have it removed.
According to Dr Chang, the difficulty comes in understanding what type of tumour you are dealing with and how the patient will react. The key, he believes, is to look at a tumour's behaviour. The problem is in the fact that many look the same when viewed under a microscope and this is why biomarkers may be able to play such an important role. Carrying out research to find biomarkers that will help increase understanding with regard to a tumour's biological behaviour is the answer, Dr Chang says.
As part of the research, Dr Chang will have access to samples of cancers from 20 different hospitals around Australia, and it's hoped the project will be able to make a contribution to the effort to understand pancreatic cancer and discover ways to help patients who are suffering from the disease.
The prognosis for a patient with pancreatic cancer can vary greatly from person to person, but according to a recent report by the Sydney Morning Herald, no one knows why exactly this is. Australian surgeon Dr David Chang is now determined to discover more about the underlying biology behind tumours and how they develop and react.
Cancer of the pancreas is not one of the more prevalent forms of the disease, however, around 7,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with it each year. It mostly occurs in people between the ages of 50 and 80, although people of any age can suffer from pancreatic cancer. It is a serious form of cancer and because there are relatively few symptoms in the early stages, it is often not often picked up until it is at an advanced stage. For pancreatic cancers that cannot be cured, there are treatments available to help make patients more comfortable and slow the growth of the tumour.
If the cancer is small then surgery may be the best option for a patient, although chemotherapy is also used as a treatment. Dr Chang said patients that are suffering from a poor prognostic tumour and have a cancer that is likely to return after a short time if surgery is carried out would be better treated with chemotherapy. However, those patients with a good prognostic tumour would be better to undergo surgery to have it removed.
According to Dr Chang, the difficulty comes in understanding what type of tumour you are dealing with and how the patient will react. The key, he believes, is to look at a tumour's behaviour. The problem is in the fact that many look the same when viewed under a microscope and this is why biomarkers may be able to play such an important role. Carrying out research to find biomarkers that will help increase understanding with regard to a tumour's biological behaviour is the answer, Dr Chang says.
As part of the research, Dr Chang will have access to samples of cancers from 20 different hospitals around Australia, and it's hoped the project will be able to make a contribution to the effort to understand pancreatic cancer and discover ways to help patients who are suffering from the disease.
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