The Increasing Proportion of Early-Stage Pancreatic Cancer between 2004-2013: A SEER Analysis

Pancreatic cancer will become the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States by 2030. Survival improves when it is identified at an early-stage and resected. Increasing public attention and cross-section imaging may shift detection to earlier stages. We found a small total increase in the proportion of stage-I cancer relative to all stages and a significant increase compared to distant disease in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Despite this, our ability to screen and identify early-stage disease is still lacking. Additional research and population-based interventions are necessary to improve early detection.

Automated summary

Pancreatic cancer is projected to be the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States by 2030. Early detection is crucial for improved survival rates. While there has been some increase in early-stage cancer detection, further research and population-based interventions are needed to enhance early detection capabilities.