Pancreatic Cancer News and Research

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Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of all cancer deaths in the United States and the third leading cause of cancer deaths in individuals ages 40 to 60. Approximately 37,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year, and, each year, approximately the same number die from it. Often, pancreatic cancer is found too late for surgical intervention, and chemotherapy and radiation treatments have little effect.

Highly-sensitive blood test detects hidden traces of pancreatic cancer

Northwestern Medicine scientists have demonstrated that a highly sensitive blood test can detect traces of pancreatic cancer missed by standard testing, potentially helping physicians identify patients whose disease is more likely to return even when scans appear reassuring.

30 Jun 2026

Semaglutide approval drove a surge in GLP-1 poison center exposures

Following semaglutide's approval, poison center reports of GLP-1 RA exposures doubled, revealing critical trends in patient safety and healthcare utilization.

26 Jun 2026

AACR report highlights unequal burden of cancer in the United States

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) today released its Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2026, a comprehensive analysis of the unequal burden of cancer in the United States.

24 Jun 2026

Novel IL1RAP therapy advances toward pancreatic cancer clinical trial

Blocking IL1RAP, a receptor that sits at a key control point in inflammatory signaling, can disrupt the tumor-driven inflammatory network that helps pancreatic cancer resist treatment, according to new research.

22 Jun 2026

New drug could double survival time in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer

A new medication could double survival time in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, according to Phase III clinical trial results presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2026 annual meeting and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

22 Jun 2026

Autonomous medical AI outperforms doctors in simulated EHR cases

MIRA, an autonomous AI agent tested in a sandboxed electronic health record, diagnosed 574 real emergency department cases with 88.9% accuracy and outperformed physicians in a matched 311-case comparison. The system ordered tests, generated medication plans, and made admission decisions in simulation, but the authors stress that prospective validation, governance, and physician oversight are still essential.

21 Jun 2026

Evidence strengthens connection between alcohol and pancreatic cancer

A new paper led by researchers at University of Victoria's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR) contributes to mounting evidence that alcohol use can cause pancreatic cancer.

16 Jun 2026

Review outlines virtual tumor concept and next-generation immunotherapy

A comprehensive review led by Associate Researcher Linnan Zhu and Academician Zemin Zhang at Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center (BIOPIC), Peking University, China, and Chongqing Medical University, China, was published in Volume 2, article number 27 of the journal Immunity & Inflammation on June 05, 2026.

12 Jun 2026

Moderate alcohol consumption linked to premature death and chronic illness

Even what many Americans consider moderate drinking is linked to an increased risk of death, disability, and chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease, according to a new study published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

9 Jun 2026

Cellular map of healthy pancreas reveals origins of deadly tumors

Scientists at the Free University of Brussels (VUB) have taken a major step forward in pancreatic cancer research. By mapping a healthy pancreas in detail down to the cellular level, they discovered that specific, rare cells in the healthy organ already bear strong similarities to the most aggressive tumor cells.

9 Jun 2026

Study identifies new therapeutic candidate for KRAS-driven pancreatic cancer

A new research paper was published in Volume 17 of Oncotarget on June 3, 2026, titled "The anticancer effects of PCAIs in pancreatic cancer cells involve MAPK and PI3K/AKT pathways hyperactivation."

8 Jun 2026

Review highlights TIGIT as a promising second-generation immunotherapy target

Malignant tumors remain a major threat to human health, with conventional therapies and first-generation immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) facing limitations like drug resistance and low response rates.

5 Jun 2026

Engineered Salmonella delivers cancer-fighting viruses to deep tumors

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have designed non-toxic Salmonella bacteria to deliver viruses that are safe to humans but potent against liver and pancreatic cancer tumors - two cancers with an extremely poor prognosis.

3 Jun 2026

Three-drug strategy forces pancreatic tumors into lasting regression

A triple-targeted preclinical therapy combining daraxonrasib, afatinib, and SD36 drove durable pancreatic cancer regression by blocking KRAS/RAS, EGFR/HER2, and STAT3 signaling. The approach prevented treatment resistance across mouse and human tumor-derived models, but remains preclinical and requires more clinically suitable drug combinations before human testing.

2 Jun 2026

Daraxonrasib significantly extends survival in metastatic pancreatic cancer

At the ASCO annual meeting, Dana-Farber's Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH, will present positive results from the RASolute 302 trial showing a substantial prolongation of survival for patients with previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer, regardless of RAS mutation status, taking daraxonrasib, an investigational oral RAS(ON) multi-selective inhibitor, compared with chemotherapy.

31 May 2026

New study tests vitamin D analog against pancreatic cancer

A small clinical trial led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers put a Salk Institute idea to the test in patients: that activating the vitamin D receptor can help reshape the protective environment surrounding pancreatic tumors in ways that could make the notoriously difficult-to-treat cancer more vulnerable to therapeutic treatments.

26 May 2026

Scientists reveal why common pancreatic precancer lesions rarely turn deadly

Spatial and single-cell analyses of human donor pancreata showed that PanIN epithelial cells gradually acquire cancer-like molecular features, while their surrounding stromal and immune environment remains closer to normal pancreatic tissue. The findings suggest that delayed or incomplete microenvironmental reprogramming may help explain why most PanIN lesions remain indolent rather than progressing to pancreatic cancer.

24 May 2026

Researchers discover unexpected cellular triggers for precancerous pancreas lesions

In an unexpected finding, a new study flips on its head researchers' understanding of how precancerous pancreas lesions evolve into pancreatic cancer.

21 May 2026

New CA19-9 threshold improves pancreatic cancer risk prediction accuracy

A dual-threshold model for measuring the pancreatic tumor marker serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) identified patients with pancreatic cancer who had high-risk disease despite having low CA19-9 levels because of a genetic variation that impairs their ability to produce this biomarker.

21 May 2026

Study paves way for earlier pancreatic cancer diagnoses in patients with low-risk pancreatic cysts

Catching pancreatic cancer early can increase the five-year survival rate from 15% to 80%. Patients with pancreatic cysts, frequently detected during unrelated abdominal CT or MRI imaging, can develop malignant pancreatic cancers.

20 May 2026