Breaking the Barrier: Early Detection of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC)
A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Oncology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2026 | Viewed by 1
Special Issue Editor
Interests: pancreatic cancer; early detection of GI cancer; chronic and acute pancreatitis; pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis biomarkers; translational studies in pancreatic cancer; genetic studies in pancreatic cancer; IBD biomarkers; IBS
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most fatal cancers. The incidence of PDAC is systematically increasing, and it mostly occurs in developed countries: the USA, Europe, Australia, and Argentina. PDAC has a poor 5-year survival rate <% and highly aggressive biological characteristics. At diagnosis, only 15-20% patients are suitable for radical surgery. Due to the unfavorable mortality statistics, early PDAC detection is crucial.
Early PDAC has non-characteristic symptoms, rarely alarming patients or even medical staff. Therefore, the majority of patients present already with metastatic or locally advanced disease. Imaging abnormalities in PDAC are cystic lesions, CP-like parenchymal changes, and solid tumors. Currently, there are no serum PDAC biomarkers useful for early PDAC diagnosis in the general population, as those for prostate and ovarian cancers. All classes of serum biomarker assays (proteins, autoantibodies, circulating DNA, microRNAs, methylated DNA, and exosomes have been evaluated for PDAC diagnostics, with no current clinical use.
High-risk individuals (HRI) for PDAC are patients with a history of familial pancreatic cancer (FPDAC) or pathogenic germline mutations. The screening intends to identify imaging abnormalities at an early and potentially curative stage, and in HRI, the chances of it are higher than in the general population. Screening should include contrast-enhanced MRI/MRCP and/or EUS every year. Routine screening for pancreatic cancer in the general population is not recommended since it is not cost-efficient: PDAC incidence is relatively rare, and the screening methods, EUS and MRI, are costly and not widely available enough. Despite the significant progress in PDAC pathogenesis knowledge as well as diagnostic methods, PDAC early detection remains a significant challenge for clinicians.
Prof. Dr. Ewa Małecka-Wojciesko
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC)
- pancreatic cancer
- IPMN
- PDAC screening
- early PDAC detection
- PDAC biomarkers
- CT
- NMR
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