The NHS has announced the launch of a new initiative aimed at identifying pancreatic cancer in its earliest stages.
The three-year pilot will see more than 300 GP practices in England look at patient records to identify individuals aged over 60 years who are most at risk of developing the disease.
Teams will use their IT systems to look for key early warning signs, including being recently diagnosed with diabetes and sudden weight loss, and will contact patients for further information where necessary.
Patients identified as being at risk will then be offered urgent blood tests and CT scans to rule out cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer deaths in the UK, and approximately half of patients diagnosed with the disease have had a recent diabetes diagnosis.
Peter Johnson, NHS National Clinical Director for Cancer, said: “Pancreatic cancer is responsible for so many deaths because patients don’t usually notice symptoms until the cancer is at an advanced stage, which is why we need to find new ways to pick it up.
“Through initiatives like this… the NHS is determined to go a step further – not just treat people at an advanced stage but to go out into communities and seek people out who might be unwell without any symptoms so we can provide people with the most effective treatment.”
Dozens of GP practices have already started rolling out the initiative, the NHS said, while the rest will follow in the autumn.
