A pancreatic cancer blood test called PAC-MANN could spot the disease early

Like iconic video game gobbler Pac-Man chows down on ghosts, specialized pancreatic cancer proteins munch through tissue. A new test could detect them in the early stages of disease.

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Just one drop of blood could reveal if you have pancreatic cancer.

 A new test called PAC-MANN can pick up signs of the disease in people’s blood, even at an early stage, researchers report February 12 in Science Translational Medicine. The test could one day give doctors a simple way to catch the disease early, before it’s too late for treatment, says study coauthor Jared Fischer, a molecular biologist at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.

“There’s really a desperate need in the field for an early detection test for pancreatic cancer,” he says.

Though relatively rare, pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancers, responsible for more than 50,000 deaths in 2024. Patients are often diagnosed late in the cancer’s progression, because the disease can be so difficult to spot. “There are no obvious symptoms,” says biomedical engineer Jose Montoya Mira, part of the OHSU team.

Unlike what’s available for other diseases, doctors don’t have anything that can easily reveal early cases of pancreatic cancer. They’re mostly limited to biopsies and imaging tests. But pancreatic cancer does have some molecular red flags, which Montoya and Fischer tapped into with PAC-MANN. Like the ghost-gobbling hero of the classic arcade game, some pancreatic cancer proteins are known for their ability to chomp. These proteins, called proteases, break down connective tissues, giving tumors space to grow.

The team built PAC-MANN, or Protease-ACtivated MAgnetic NaNosensor, to detect one of these chomping proteins. The nanosensor is made of a magnetic bead linked to fluorescent molecules. When mixed with blood from a pancreatic cancer patient, proteases cleave the fluorescent molecules from the bead, releasing them into solution. Using a magnet, the team pulls any remaining nanosensors away. Left behind are the cleaved fluorescent bits, which glow under visible light.

The researchers tested their system on blood samples from 178 people who either didn’t have pancreatic cancer or had already been diagnosed. Ninety percent of the time, PAC-MANN correctly predicted whether patients had cancer or not. PAC-MANN correctly identified 40 out of 55 people with the disease and 120 out of 123 people without the disease, the researchers reported.

Now the team is validating its results in a larger set of people. They’re also looking into starting a clinical trial. The researchers envision their system one day being used for regular screenings in clinics, like an annual mammogram. PAC-MANN doesn’t require specialized imaging equipment or high-tech facilities to run. That means it has potential for use in underserved populations and in areas that lack the resources of big, wealthy hospitals, Montoya says.