Screening for early pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in hereditary pancreatitis

Patients with hereditary pancreatitis have a 40% lifetime risk of developin g pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Existing methods of diagnosing pancreat ic cancer such as tumor markers, endoscopy, and radiological imaging lack t he sensitivity and specificity for early diagnosis, particularly in a backg round of chronic pancreatitis. Molecular based strategies offer new avenues of screening for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in these high-risk patie nts, which may allow the development of highly sensitive and specific diagn ostic tests for the early detection or cancer.