Game-Changing Blood Test Could Help Catch Pancreatic Cancer Before It Turns Deadly

A new four-marker blood test accurately detects pancreatic cancer, including early stages, raising hopes for earlier diagnosis and improved survival pending further studies.

Scientists backed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have created a blood test designed to detect pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, one of the most lethal cancer types. Because pancreatic cancer is often discovered only after it has advanced, treatment options are limited. The researchers believe that identifying the disease sooner could improve patient outcomes. The study detailing the test was published in Clinical Cancer Research.

Overall, only about 1 in 10 pancreatic cancer patients survives more than five years from diagnosis. However, experts expect that when the cancer is found and treated at an earlier stage, survival would improve. While finding the cancer early is key, there are no current screening methods to do so.

Researchers Test Known and Novel Blood Biomarkers

In the study, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, and Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, used a phased approach to testing biomarkers in the blood collected from patients with pancreatic cancer and similar patients without the malignancy.

They included two blood biomarkers previously explored for use in this way: carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), which is used to monitor treatment response in patients with pancreatic cancer, and thrombospondin 2 (THBS2), another previously used marker. Neither worked well as a screening tool. CA19-9 can be elevated in people with benign conditions such as pancreatitis and bile duct obstruction, while other patients don’t produce it at all due to genetic factors.

By studying stored blood samples, the researchers identified two additional proteins that were present at higher levels in people with early-stage pancreatic cancer compared with healthy volunteers. These proteins were aminopeptidase N (ANPEP) and polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (PIGR).

Four-Marker Panel Shows High Accuracy, Especially Early

When they combined ANPEP and PIGR with CA19-9 and THBS2, the four-marker panel successfully distinguished pancreatic cancer cases from non-cases 91.9% of the time for all stages combined at a false positive rate of 5% in non-cases. Similarly, for early-stage (stage I/II) cancer, the four-marker test identified 87.5% of cases.

“By adding ANPEP and PIGR to the existing markers, we’ve significantly improved our ability to detect this cancer when it’s most treatable,” said the study’s lead investigator, Kenneth Zaret, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.

Path Toward Early Screening for High-Risk Groups

Just as importantly, the four-marker approach distinguished cancer not only from healthy individuals but also from people with noncancerous pancreatic conditions such as pancreatitis, a real-world test that matters because these look alike clinically and can confuse single-marker blood tests.

“Our retrospective study findings warrant further testing in larger populations, particularly in people before they show symptoms,” Zaret said. “Such ‘prediagnostic’ studies would help determine if the test could be used as a screening tool for people at high risk of developing the disease based on family history, genetic screening results, or personal history of pancreatic cysts or pancreatitis.”

Reference: “Improving a Plasma Biomarker Panel for Early Detection of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma with Aminopeptidase N (ANPEP) and Polymeric Immunoglobulin Receptor (PIGR)” by Brianna M. Krusen, Phyllis A. Gimotty, Greg Donahue, Jacob E. Till, Melinda Yin, Erin E. Carlson, William R. Bamlet, Erica L. Carpenter, Shounak Majumder, Ann L. Oberg and Kenneth S. Zaret, 28 January 2026, Clinical Cancer Research.
DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-25-3297

The study was funded by NIH grants U01CA210138, P50CA102701, S10 OD023586-01, P30 DK020579, UL1 TR002345, P30CA091842, and U01CA210138.

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