Each year, about 37,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Due to the lack of early symptoms, the cancer often goes undetected until its more advanced stages when surgical removal may no longer be possible and survival rates are very poor.

In an effort to create a blood test that would detect pancreatic cancer before it spreads, researchers at the OU College of Medicine have identified specific biomarkers in blood serum. These biomarkers, identified by mass spectrometry, can act as targets for the development of a blood test for pancreatic cancer. The goal is to catch the cancer at an earlier clinical stage.

"Right now, there is no screening test to catch pancreatic cancer until it spreads to other organs and creates noticeable symptoms. By the time it's diagnosed the survival rate is 5-10 percent and it's most often in clinical stage 4," said Jay Hanas, a biochemist and principle investigator on the project.

Hanas explained that as the body's physiology changes with disease, there are slight changes in the frequency and amounts of certain molecules that our tissues secrete into the blood. Mass spectrometry is able to measure those biomarker changes, which appear as mass peaks in a computerized read out.

"We have found 20 peaks that correlate to pancreatic cancer," Hanas said.

The next step for the OU research team is to look at levels of biomarkers at different stages of pancreatic cancer as well as compare these biomarkers to other cancers. This phase of research should be completed this year, and Hanas hopes a blood test for early detection of pancreatic cancer will be available for high risk patients within five years.

"Early detection is our best weapon against this particular cancer," said Russell Postier, M.D., a surgeon and pancreatic cancer specialist with OU Physicians who is a co-investigator in the research. "Unfortunately, we have not had a good way to detect pancreatic cancer before it has spread. A blood test that could act as an early warning system could save tens of thousands of lives every year."

Becky Maynard, who lives near Tulsa, never thought much about pancreatic cancer until she became one of its statistics. She was diagnosed at age 25. As a survivor of the fourth deadliest cancer, Maynard understands the importance of early detection.

"They found mine early, so I got lucky," Maynard said.

Jim Edwards of Duncan also was fortunate. At the insistence of his wife, he had a routine physical that led to his diagnosis more than 2 years ago.

"The cancer was pressing against my bile duct that goes to the liver and that's the only way they found it," Edwards said. "If it had been a little farther over, they may not have found it until it was too late."

The National Pancreas Foundation, a nonprofit research organization, reports that pancreatic cancer can grow for some time before it causes pressure in the abdomen, pain or other problems. When symptoms appear, they depend on the location and size of the tumor.

Even when symptoms are present, Dr. Postier explained they can be subtle or mistaken for other illnesses.

"It tends not to cause symptoms until the pancreatic duct or the bile duct is blocked and then the symptoms, if it's only the pancreatic duct and not the bile duct, are vague – upper abdominal pains that radiate to the back," Postier said.

In addition to the biomarker research, scientists at the OU Health Sciences Center are looking for another early warning system for pancreatic cancer in small bits of genetic material called micro-RNAs.

Working in collaboration with researchers in Ohio, the OU team discovered a pattern of small bits of genetic material called micro-RNAs that appear at much higher levels in patients with pancreatic cancer than in those without.

"Once we've been able to identify that specific pattern of micro-RNA expression that's unique to pancreatic cancer, then that gives us a fingerprint which we can follow," explained Daniel Brackett, Ph.D., an investigator on the project.

"The better we understand things that are going on at the molecular level – at the very basic, basic level – the better chance we will have to find targets at which to direct new therapies."

Brackett said one of the goals of pancreatic research at the OU Health Sciences Center – which leads the region in pancreatic surgeries – is a simple blood test that could identify pancreatic cancer in its earliest stages. He said better understanding of the genetic basis of the disease also will help doctors understand what lifestyle changes reduce the risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

In the meantime, there are things people should know. First, get regular physicals.

Edwards credits his life today on his physician's persistence to get answers after he merely complained of a stomach ache.

"If I had not taken a yearly physical, I would have just thought it was a stomach problem and waited two or three months, and it would have been too late," Edwards said.

"I was definitely blessed. Early diagnosis is what saved my life."

Early warning signs include:

* Yellow or jaundiced eyes and skin

* Pain in the upper or middle abdomen and back

* Nausea

* Loss of appetite

* Depression

* Unexplained weight loss

* Weakness or fatigue

Risk factors

Pancreatic cancer is becoming more prevalent. Both new cases and deaths have increased over the past three years. Here are common risk factors:

* Smoking (increases risk by 70 percent)

* Long-standing diabetes

* Aging

* Family history

* Chronic pancreatitis

* Obesity

* Heavy alcohol consumption

* Hereditary pancreatitis

More stats on pancreatic cancer

* In Oklahoma, on average, more than one person a day dies from pancreatic cancer.

* In 2007, pancreatic cancer was the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

* The five-year survival rate is 4 percent.

* The median survival rate after diagnosis is six months.