The NHS is rolling out a new initiative across GP surgeries in England, aiming to significantly improve the early detection of pancreatic cancer, a disease with the lowest survival rate among all cancers.
Hundreds of GPs will receive additional funding to review patient records, focusing on identifying individuals over the age of 60 who exhibit key warning signs. These include a recent diagnosis of diabetes and unexplained sudden weight loss.
Figures suggest that approximately half of all pancreatic cancer diagnoses occur in individuals who have recently been diagnosed with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. By proactively identifying these high-risk patients, the NHS hopes to diagnose the deadly disease at an earlier, more treatable stage, ultimately improving patient outcomes.
Family doctors taking part in the NHS England pilot will then contact patients and send them for urgent blood tests and CT scans to rule cancer in or out.
Pancreatic cancer can have vague symptoms and is often diagnosed in the late stages.
According to researchers, newly-diagnosed diabetes patients often have similar symptoms as a person with early-stage pancreatic cancer.
This is because the cancer destroys the same insulin-producing cells that are also destroyed in diabetes.
Around 10,500 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year and only around one in 20 survive the disease for 10 years or more.
More than half of people die within three months of diagnosis.
For the new three-year pilot, more than 300 GP practices in England will be involved, with all practices up and running by the autumn.
Almost £2 million in targeted funding has been invested to help practices find people most at risk and give patients the best chance of being diagnosed early.
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said: “Pancreatic cancer is responsible for so many deaths because patients don’t usually notice symptoms until the cancer is at an advanced stage, which is why we need to find new ways to pick it up.
“Through initiatives like this and the upcoming 10-year health plan, the NHS is determined to go a step further – not just treat people at an advanced stage but to go out into communities and seek people out who might be unwell without any symptoms so we can provide people with the most effective treatment.
“The NHS is seeing and treating more people with cancer than ever, and early diagnosis is key to ensure patients have the best chance of receiving effective treatment.
“If your GP practice identifies you as at risk of pancreatic cancer, I urge you to come forward for testing as soon as possible.”
Health minister Karin Smyth said: “This targeted approach to identify people at risk of one of the most lethal cancers could give more people a fighting chance and spare the heartbreak of countless families.”
Alfie Bailey-Bearfield, head of influencing and health improvement at Pancreatic Cancer UK, said: “Diagnosing more people with pancreatic cancer earlier, when the disease is most treatable, would make the single biggest difference to improving survival, so we are delighted to see significant further investment from NHS England towards that incredibly important goal.
“We’re proud to have been involved in shaping this new case finding pilot, which will support GPs to proactively find people with pancreatic cancer among one of largest groups known to be at increased risk: those aged over 60, with new onset diabetes who have recently lost weight without trying to do so.
“Many of the people who are referred for a CT scan during the pilot will not have pancreatic cancer, but for those that do, the impact could be lifesaving.
“Subject to the pilot’s success, we will be calling for this pilot to be expanded across the country to help give more people affected by the deadliest common cancer the very best chance of survival.”
Previous research has shown that people over 50 with a new case of type 2 diabetes have a higher chance of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer within three years.
