The project
Pancreatic cancer is one of the hardest cancers to detect early, and survival rates are low. Many people are diagnosed only when they become very unwell and need emergency care. This is because the symptoms of pancreatic cancer are often vague and easy to miss. In this project, Dr Manar Ashams wants to understand what happens to people in the months and years before their diagnosis. They will look at who develops pancreatic cancer, what symptoms they experience, and how often they visit their GP or hospital. This will help them understand who may be at higher risk and how pancreatic cancer could be spotted earlier.
What are you going to do?
They will study people in Wales who have pancreatic cancer and look at the information recorded by their GP and hospitals over time. This includes details such as age, where people live, existing health conditions, symptoms, and how often they visit their GP or hospital. By comparing this group with people who do not have pancreatic cancer, they can identify patterns that are linked to a higher risk of the disease or to a later diagnosis.
Why is this research important?
Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed too late for treatments to work well. By better understanding who is at higher risk and how people interact with their GP or hospital before diagnosis, this research could help doctors recognise warning signs earlier. In the future, this could lead to earlier testing for people at higher risk, quicker diagnosis, and fewer people being diagnosed when their cancer is already advanced.
How do I get involved?
No scientific background or prior experience is needed to take part in this opportunity.
This opportunity is open to anyone affected by pancreatic cancer including patients, survivors, carers and loved ones:
If you are interested in taking part in this document review please email the Research Team (research@pancreaticcancer.org.uk) quoting the involvement reference ‘Ashams document review’
