Know Early to Detect Up to 3 Years Sooner... What Are the Early Symptoms of the 'Silent Killer' Pancreatic Cancer?...

Early symptoms are minimal, making early detection difficult and mortality rates high
Regularly check for weight loss and glycated hemoglobin levels

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Park] A study has revealed that pancreatic cancer can be detected up to 3 years earlier. Pancreatic cancer is called the "silent killer" because it is difficult to detect early due to almost no initial symptoms, but it has a high mortality rate.

Recently, British medical media outlets such as News Medical and the Daily Mail reported on a study conducted by researchers at the University of Surrey, UK, who compared and analyzed the body mass index (BMI) and blood glucose measurements of 8,777 pancreatic cancer patients and a control group of 34,979 people over 5 years.

The analysis showed that pancreatic cancer patients experienced weight loss starting 2 years before their cancer diagnosis. Their average BMI at diagnosis was 25.7, about 3 points lower than the average BMI of their peers (28.4). From 3 years before diagnosis, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels increased. HbA1c is an indicator reflecting the average blood glucose level over the past 3 months.

Therefore, the research team suggested that regularly monitoring BMI and HbA1c could significantly increase the possibility of early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

However, weight loss and increased HbA1c are also symptoms observed in diabetic patients. When analyzing the correlation with diabetes, it was found that in diabetic patients, weight loss was a stronger signal of pancreatic cancer onset. Conversely, in non-diabetic individuals, high blood sugar was a stronger signal of pancreatic cancer onset.

Professor Simon de Lusignan of the University of Oxford, UK, who led the study, stated, "Even in people without diabetes, if there is dramatic and unexplained weight loss, it should be treated with a high level of suspicion."

Meanwhile, cancer remains the leading cause of death in South Korea. According to Statistics Korea's "2021 Cause of Death Statistics," 26.0% (82,688 people) of Korean deaths were due to cancer. In particular, the incidence of pancreatic cancer is on the rise due to Westernization and an aging population. In July, a research team at the National Cancer Center predicted that the annual number of pancreatic cancer cases in South Korea will increase 2.3 times from 7,032 cases in 2017 to 16,170 cases by 2040. This prediction was based on cancer registration data and mortality data from Statistics Korea.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.