Prioritizing Early Detection to Improve Survival Outcomes in Pancreatic Cancer

A 2026 report from the American Cancer Society revealed that, for all combined cancer types, the 5-year survival rate was 70%. A sizeable increase from only a few years prior, the figure represents the recent era of advancement and growth in oncology. Despite this, pancreatic cancer has a 5-year survival rate of 13%.

CancerNetwork® spoke with Diane Simeone, MD, about the state of pancreatic cancer research and care. Within that conversation, she highlighted that even though the current rate lags behind other types, it is up from the 5% rate which was observed when she was a trainee in 1995. Simeone, the director of the Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health, focused on the notion that the primary driver for improving outcomes in patients with pancreatic cancer is early detection.

A comprehensive landscape analysis of the field suggests that while biological understanding and therapeutic options have matured, the lack of a curative approach for advanced disease remains a critical barrier. Even in cases deemed resectable, many patients are diagnosed at stage III with positive lymph node involvement. Simeone noted that identifying the disease earlier is essential, as medical interventions are most effective before the cancer reaches these advanced stages.

The survival disparity is most evident when comparing outcomes by stage at diagnosis. According to 5-year-old SEER data, patients identified with stage IA pancreatic cancer have a survival rate of 83%. This stark contrast to the overall 13% survival rate highlights the potential impact of a stage shift in clinical practice.

Simeone emphasized that focusing investment and clinical efforts on the identification of early-stage disease can go a long way in transforming the trajectory of the disease. By shifting the timing of diagnosis, clinicians can move toward more favorable survival rates and provide patients with a greater opportunity for curative outcomes.

Transcript:

CancerNetwork: The American Cancer Society reports that the 5-year survival rate of cancer is 70% but pancreatic cancer lags behind with a 13% survival rate. Why is this the case?

Simeone: That's something we think about all the time. In fact, when I started working on pancreatic cancer in 1992 as a trainee, then in my first year in faculty in 1995, the survival rate was about 5%. There have been a lot of things that have happened in a good way for pancreatic cancer; [we have a] much more in-depth understanding of the biology the disease and new therapies are coming forward. But I would say, at this point, [after] doing a landscape analysis and looking at where the investment needs to be in pancreatic cancer, if we really make a large push for early detection, then that's going to pay off in the greatest way.

We still do not have a curative approach for advanced pancreatic cancer, and for 50% of [patients with] pancreatic cancer, the first time they come to the doctor they have an advanced disease. Even as a surgeon for patients who have resectable disease, many of those patients [have stage III cancer] with positive lymph nodes. A concerted effort on early detection, because we know if you find a stage IA pancreatic cancer—and this is in 5-year-old SEER data—the survival rate is 83%. If we can have a stage shift in the identification of pancreatic cancer in patients that can go a very, very long way.

Reference

Siegel RL, Kratzer TB, Wagle NS, Sung H, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2026. CA Cancer J Clin. 2026;76(1):e70043. doi:10.3322/caac.70043