'Simple' Pancreatic Cancer Test Offers New Hope

A new groundbreaking urine test could help detect pancreatic cancer in its early stages, saving thousands of lives.

Scientists at Barts Cancer Institute say the test is 90% accurate, inexpensive, simple and non-invasive. Its introduction could significantly increase survival rates for the first time in 40 years.

Director of Barts Cancer Institute and co-author of the research, Professor Nick Lemoine told Sky News: "We have identified a signature of three proteins, found in the urine of patients with pancreatic cancer, that's not present in patients without the disease.

"Really excitingly, it's present in early pancreatic cancer, which is what we need to be able to change the face of the disease.

"Almost every patient we see in the clinic today has very advanced disease which is essentially incurable."

In the early stages of pancreatic cancer the symptoms can be undetectable, or mistaken for other ailments.

There are 9,000 people diagnosed with the disease every year in the UK and it has the worst survival rates of the common cancers.

In England and Wales, 20% of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive for one year or more, 5% survive for five years or more but only 1% live for longer than 10 years after the diagnosis.

The symptoms are often difficult to detect in the early stages. If detected at a later stage, the fast progression of the pancreatic cancer can be devastating for the family and friends of patients.

Rebecca Wright lost her husband in April - just four months after he was diagnosed.

She told Sky News: " If Shaun had been caught early, I'd have probably still have my husband here, Lucia would still her Dad here.

"It's devastated my family: I've lost a third of my family. My daughter's lost a Dad who absolutely adored her.

"We've set up a foundation, the Shaun Wright foundation in his name."