Blood Markers of Early Pancreas Cancer

Patients diagnosed with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) have only an 10% chance of surviving 5 years after diagnosis. Most PDAC is advanced and not amenable to curative therapies at the time of diagnosis, owing to lack of symptoms in early disease, nonspecific symptoms when they do develop resulting in a delay in diagnosis. Identifying biomarkers of early PDAC could facilitate screening for individuals at higher than average risk and expedite the diagnosis in individuals with symptoms and substantially improve an individual's chance of surviving the disease.

The investigators propose a longitudinal study of subjects at higher than average risk of PDAC in order to generate clinical data and bank serial blood specimens. Subjects will include individuals with family history of pancreas cancer, individuals with cystic pancreas lesions or chronic pancreatitis, and individuals with new-onset diabetes. Identifying specific biomarkers - blood markers and/or a clinical "prodrome" - in participants who go on to develop PDAC could improve the diagnostic approach outcomes for patients diagnosed with PDAC.