According to the website of Nature on the 12th, scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, and the University of Health and Science in Oregon, USA, have developed a simple blood detection method that can detect pancreatic cancer before it spreads to other parts of the body. This method can be used for routine screening to improve the survival rate of patients with pancreatic cancer. The relevant paper was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on the 12th. Pancreatic cancer is a malignant tumor, which mainly originates from pancreatic duct epithelium and acinar cells. Pancreatic cancer is an insidious disease, but it progresses rapidly. Early diagnosis is very difficult, and patients have a short survival time, so it is called "the king of cancer". In 2022, about 467000 people worldwide will die of pancreatic cancer, so it is urgent to develop a new method for early detection of pancreatic cancer. To tackle this challenge, scientists have developed a nanosensor containing magnetic nanoparticles for detecting the activity of matrix metalloproteinases in blood in the latest research. These matrix metalloproteinases are involved in the consumption of collagen and extracellular matrix, and are "accomplices" of pancreatic tumors invading the human body. They are abnormally active in tumors (even early-stage tumors). Researchers tested the effectiveness of this nanosensor on frozen blood samples from 356 individuals. The participants were pancreatic cancer patients, other cancer patients and healthy people. The results showed that the success rate of nano sensors in identifying healthy people was as high as 98%, and the success rate of identifying pancreatic cancer patients was 73%. Moreover, it can always distinguish pancreatic cancer patients from other cancer patients. Researchers say that the cost of using this nanosensor is extremely low, with each test costing only 0.01 US dollars. This means that it can be widely used in rural or resource poor areas. They hope to launch clinical trials targeting pancreatic cancer and apply this method to the detection of gastrointestinal cancer and other cancers. (New Society)