November is not just Diabetes Awareness Month, but also Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

Pancreatic cancer or cancer of the pancreas doesn't normally show signs or symptoms until it is too late - making it the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.

From Moffitt Cancer Center:

Moffitt Cancer Center's Gastrointestinal Oncology Program has an early detection and screening program for pancreatic cancer. This program is the only one of its kind in the Southeast, says Dr. Mokenge P. Malafa, head of the division of Gastrointestinal Oncology. Moffitt doctors and researchers are recruiting for this program and several other innovative clinical trials in pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Jason Klapman, an endoscopic oncologist at Moffitt, is the principal investigator of this screening trial targeting patients at high risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Once participants are identified, an endoscopic ultrasound is used to detect the early stages of cancer. Patients are studied for five years.

The patients eligible for this early detection trial have a very strong family history of pancreatic cancer or a genetic syndrome linked with pancreatic cancer .This patient population represents about 10 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer. Moffitt doctors hope this screening clinical trial will make a difference in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Hat tip to Patricia Kim of Moffitt Cancer Center.