It seems pretty obvious that the smaller a tumor, the more likely it can be managed, even 'cured'. However, this hasn't been clearly demonstrated until now in the case of pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the USA and one of the most deadly, responsible for more than 33,000 deaths a year. Researchers at Saint Louis University and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston have conducted the first study to specifically evaluate the link between tumor size and survival rates for one of the most common and deadly cancers. Their findings are published online in the journal Pancreas.

The study looked at 65 patients who were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Their average age was 67 years old; 38 were men. The average survival of patients whose tumors were 20 millimeters or smaller was 17.2 months. For those with tumors 21-25 mm, average survival was 12.3 months. For those with tumors 26-30 mm, average survival was 8.5 months. And for those with tumors larger than 30 mm, average survival was 7.6 months. Unfortunately, patients with the smallest tumors were relatively few. Only 12 patients (18%) had tumors 20 mm or smaller. By contrast, 42% had tumors larger than 30 mm. Despite many advances in the fight against other cancers, the outlook for patients diagnosed with the pancreatic cancer has remained extremely poor. That's because the cancer is frequently not suspected and is difficult to diagnose in its early stages, when most people have no symptoms or have non-specific complaints that are easily ignored or attributed to other diseases . The findings in this study vividly underscore the importance of early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.