Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

  Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/VcIrOY-BJtM   Regular screening of those at high risk for developing pancreatic cancer can diagnose this dread disease at early, more treatable stages in nearly three-quarters of patients.  This encouraging result stems from an ongoing multi center trial that began in 1988 and is led by Johns Hopkins gastroenterologists. The CAPS study, short for Cancer of Pancreas Screening, has followed 1731 patients with careful, annual pancreatic imaging.   During the trial, 26 cancers developed.  In the 19 patients who consistently participated in surveillance, 58% were diagnosed with stage 1 and 16% with Stage 2 disease.  The 5 year survival rate for those with surveillance-detected cancers was 73% with a median survival of 9.8 years.  Those not under surveillance developing pancreatic cancer only lived a median of 18 months.   Those selected for surveillance had more than one close relative with a history of pancreatic cancer or were known to have a genetic variant predisposing them to the