Advancing Detection and Care with Innovation
November marks Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, a time to shine a spotlight on one of the most aggressive and challenging malignancies. Pancreatic cancer is the only cancer with rising incidence and mortality rates in both sexes, and as of 2025, it is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Europe and USA[1] [2]. A diagnosis is frequently linked to a poor prognosis because of the disease’s aggressive biology and typically late presentation. These data highlight the critical need for early detection, accurate diagnostics, and individualized treatment strategies.
At PENTAX Medical, we are committed to supporting clinicians in delivering cutting-edge care. To gain insights into the latest advances, we spoke with Dr. Livia Archibugi, gastroenterologist at IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Italy, and leader of the Italian Task Force for Pancreatic Cancer Screening, whose work bridges clinical care, molecular research, and educational leadership in pancreatic disease.
Q&A with Dr. Livia Archibugi
Q1: What are the key challenges in pancreatic cancer today?
Dr. Archibugi: Pancreatic cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and has a poor prognosis for four main reasons. First, its symptoms are vague and non-specific, often leading to delayed diagnosis. Second, the pancreas is a deep, poorly accessible organ, and standard imaging for abdominal pain – such as ultrasound – can easily miss small lesions. Third, pancreatic tumors have a strong tendency to spread early, often at a micro-metastatic level that remains undetectable on conventional imaging. Finally, current chemotherapy regimens, while offering some benefit, have not yet changed the aggressive natural course of the disease. These factors make early detection both critical and challenging. Effective screening measures in high‑risk individuals and the development of reliable biomarkers are essential to improving outcomes.
Q2: How are techniques like ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography) and EUS (Endoscopic Ultrasound) transforming patient care? And what recent innovations in the field excite you most?
Dr. Archibugi: Techniques like EUS and ERCP are rapidly transforming the care of patients with pancreatic cancer. Advances in EUS imaging now provide excellent resolution, enabling detailed evaluation of precursor lesions (such as IPMNs and PanINs) and accurate tumor staging. EUS-guided FNA and FNB allow tissue acquisition not only for diagnosis but also for molecular profiling, when indicated. The integration of elastography and contrast-enhanced imaging further enhances diagnostic precision and sampling accuracy.
Beyond diagnosis, EUS also offers therapeutic options – such as managing gastric outlet obstruction or providing biliary drainage when ERCP fails. ERCP remains the first‑line approach for relieving jaundice, but EUS-guided interventions are increasingly replacing both ERCP when unsuccessful, as also palliative surgery or interventional radiology procedures.
Both techniques are evolving quickly, driven by improved imaging, innovative devices, and expanding therapeutic indications. Ensuring high-quality training is essential to deliver optimal care and fully realize their potential.
Q3: What message do you want to share with our audience during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month?
Dr. Archibugi: My main message is one of awareness and hope. Awareness, because it is crucial, both among the public and healthcare professionals, to recognize early symptoms and risk factors that can lead to a timely diagnosis. We also need greater awareness of screening programs for high‑risk individuals, which can identify precursor lesions or small tumors before they become advanced.
Hope, because I truly believe that awareness and surveillance programs can improve early diagnosis, and that more personalized treatments are on the horizon. Hope also comes from the remarkable progress in advanced endoscopic techniques, which are already improving patients’ quality of life, and from the growing investment in training new generations to deliver high-quality diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy for pancreatic cancer. Clinicians, patients, and industry MUST collaborate to turn scientific advances into real‑world outcomes.
PENTAX Medical: Industry Perspective
At PENTAX Medical, we empower healthcare professionals with intuitive flexible endoscopy solutions for better patient care. From high-definition EUS imaging to devices optimized for tissue acquisition, our technologies help translate molecular insights into actionable clinical decisions. Our ERCP solutions, including the PENTAX Medical I-DEC™ Video Duodenoscope, are designed to reduce the risk of cross-contamination while maintaining maneuverability and image quality, supporting safer procedures and improved patient outcomes.
For more information on pancreatic cancer and ways to contribute, visit https://pancreaticcancereurope.eu/.
[1] Dalmartello M, La Vecchia C, Bertuccio P, Boffetta P, Levi F, Negri E, Malvezzi M. European cancer mortality predictions for the year 2022 with focus on ovarian cancer. Ann Oncol. 2022 Mar;33(3):330-339. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2021.12.007. Epub 2022 Jan 26. PMID: 35090748.
[2] Siegel RL, Kratzer TB, Giaquinto AN, Sung H, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2025. CA Cancer J Clin. 2025 Jan-Feb;75(1):10-45. doi: 10.3322/caac.21871. Epub 2025 Jan 16. PMID: 39817679; PMCID: PMC11745215.
