Health
Pancreatic Cancer Is Often Found Too Late. Scientists Want to Intercept It Earlier
More than 530,000 people develop pancreatic cancer globally each year. Researchers are exploring whether early detection and targeted drugs can stop it before it spreads.
More than half a million people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer around the world each year. For many, the disease is discovered only after it has moved beyond the pancreas. The timing can make a profound difference. In the latest global estimates from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), more than 530,000 people developed pancreatic cancer in 2024, while more than 490,000 died from it. Although pancreatic cancer is only the 12th most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide, it ranks sixth as a cause of cancer death.
It is also largely a disease of older adults. In the US, where detailed cancer surveillance data are available, the median age at diagnosis is 71. About two-thirds of patients are at least 65, according to the American Cancer Society.
But age is only part of the problem. Pancreatic cancer can remain difficult to recognise because early disease often causes no obvious symptoms. The pancreas sits deep inside the abdomen, making early tumours difficult to detect through a routine physical examination. When symptoms such as jaundice, weight loss, abdominal or back pain appear, the cancer may already have grown substantially or spread.
That is why researchers are beginning to pursue an idea that changes where the fight against pancreatic cancer starts. Instead of waiting for a tumour to become invasive, they want to identify the abnormal changes that come before it — and stop the disease there. The strategy is called cancer interception.
Why Catching It Early Matters
The numbers show why researchers are looking further upstream. In the latest US SEER data, only about 15% of pancreatic cancer cases are diagnosed while the cancer is still confined to the pancreas. For these patients, the five-year relative survival rate is 43.6%.
Once the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes, five-year survival falls to 17%. For patients whose cancer has already metastasised to distant parts of the body, it is just 3.4%. Overall, the five-year relative survival rate is 13.7%. Those figures are not simply statistics about treatment. They explain the urgency behind early detection. If doctors can find pancreatic cancer before it spreads, patients have a substantially better chance of surviving it.
The difficulty is that there is currently no routine screening test recommended for people at average risk. The American Cancer Society notes that no screening test has yet been shown to reduce deaths from pancreatic cancer in the general population. Surveillance is instead considered for people at particularly high risk, such as those with certain inherited genetic risks or strong family histories. So researchers are looking for people who can be watched closely before cancer appears.
Following People Before Cancer Arrives
One of the largest efforts is PRECEDE, a clinical study led by Diane Simeone, director of the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California San Diego Health. The study aims to follow 20,000 people at increased risk of pancreatic cancer. Participants include people with a family history of the disease, certain abnormalities in the pancreas and genetic factors that raise their risk.
More than 12,000 people had enrolled by the time researchers presented an update at the American Association for Cancer Research conference on pancreatic cancer in September. More than 50 pancreatic cancers had been detected among participants, many at early stages.
That makes the study more than an exercise in surveillance. It is creating a group of people who can be followed closely as their pancreatic tissue changes, potentially allowing researchers to see what happens in the period between an abnormality and full-blown cancer.
The researchers are also collecting biological samples to study experimental blood tests that could detect pancreatic cancer earlier. And there is another tool they hope can help: artificial intelligence. Researchers are examining whether AI can identify subtle abnormalities in pancreatic scans before they become apparent to the human eye.
If these approaches work, the goal would be to move diagnosis forward, from the point at which cancer is already established to a much earlier stage in its development. But early detection creates a new question. If doctors find something that could become cancer, can they stop it?
Can the Drug Work Earlier?
A new targeted drug has given scientists another reason to investigate. In August, the US Food and Drug Administration approved daraxonrasib for certain patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. The drug targets KRAS, a protein involved in signals that can drive cancer growth.
In a randomized clinical trial involving 500 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, median overall survival was 13.2 months for patients receiving daraxonrasib, compared with 6.7 months for those receiving standard chemotherapy.
But the drug’s approval does not mean it can prevent pancreatic cancer.
It is approved for advanced disease. Researchers are interested in what might happen if drugs that target cancer-driving pathways are used much earlier, perhaps when abnormal pancreatic cells have not yet developed into an invasive tumour. That is the central idea behind interception.
Stopping Cancer Early
Treating someone who already has metastatic cancer and treating someone who has a precancerous pancreatic abnormality are completely different medical decisions. For a patient with advanced cancer, the potential benefits of a powerful treatment may justify significant side effects. For someone who has an abnormality that might never become cancer, the calculation is different.
Researchers therefore need to know which precancerous changes are dangerous enough to treat and whether the treatment itself causes more harm than the disease it is intended to prevent. That is why much of the evidence for pancreatic cancer interception is still coming from laboratory and animal studies.
A clue From Mice
At the September AACR meeting, Ben Stanger, a cancer researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, and his colleagues presented research involving mice carrying mutations in the Kras gene. KRAS mutations can activate proteins that promote cancer development. The researchers waited until the mice developed tiny precancerous growths in the pancreas. They then treated the animals with a drug designed to interfere with KRAS and related cancer-promoting proteins.
The treatment improved survival in the mice. The finding matters because it suggests that cancer-driving pathways may be vulnerable even before a pancreatic tumour becomes invasive. The researchers still need to establish whether the same strategy is safe and effective in humans, which patients should receive it, and how early treatment should begin.
From Treating Cancer to Stopping Its Progression
This is what makes cancer interception such a significant shift in pancreatic cancer research. The traditional approach begins after a tumour has formed. Doctors then try to remove it, shrink it or keep it from spreading. Interception moves the starting line. Researchers want to identify the biological changes that put pancreatic cells on the path toward cancer and intervene before that process becomes difficult to reverse.
Simeone’s team is already considering whether therapies such as daraxonrasib could eventually be studied in people after surgery for precancerous pancreatic growths or in patients with very early-stage disease. Such use would require clinical trials; the drug is currently approved for advanced pancreatic cancer. Simeone has estimated that combining earlier detection with interception could potentially raise five-year survival from 13.7% to 50%.
That figure is a research projection, not a demonstrated result.The immediate challenge is much more basic: scientists need to prove that they can reliably identify dangerous pancreatic changes early enough, and that treating them will actually prevent cancer from progressing.
For a disease in which only about 15% of cases in current US data are found while still localized, even finding that window would change the problem researchers are trying to solve. The hope behind cancer interception is therefore not simply to find a better drug for pancreatic cancer. It is to change the moment at which doctors have to fight it, from after it has spread to before it has a chance to become invasive.
Health
FSSAI Moves to Restrict Added Sugars in Infant Foods, Citing Need for Stronger Nutritional Safeguards
FSSAI has proposed restricting the addition of sucrose and fructose to infant foods for babies up to six months. The draft amendment aims to strengthen nutritional safeguards.
The first months of life leave little room for nutritional guesswork. An infant’s food must supply the energy and nutrients needed for growth, making the composition of commercial infant nutrition products a matter of public health. Whether manufacturers need to add particular sugars to these products is therefore an important regulatory question.
Research published in recent years has begun examining how added sugars enter infants’ diets, including through formula milk, and whether early exposure is associated with subsequent eating patterns and weight gain. Although the evidence does not establish that added sucrose or fructose in infant formula directly causes obesity, it has raised questions about the nutritional value of adding sugars when alternative carbohydrate sources are available.
Against this backdrop, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed prohibiting the addition of sucrose and fructose to food products intended for infants up to six months of age. The draft amendment, published in the Gazette of India on 16 October 2026, would tighten the existing rules governing the composition of these products.
Early Exposure to Added Sugars
An Indian study published in the Indian Journal of Community Medicine in 2021 examined the sugar and salt content of 114 commercially available infant formulas and baby foods. The researchers found that around 28% of the products had a high-sugar profile, while approximately 51% listed sugar or related ingredients among their first four ingredients.
The study covered products intended for children aged up to 24 months, including infant formulas and complementary foods. Its findings offer evidence that sugar content warrants scrutiny in India’s infant and young-child food market. However, the assessment relied on product labels and did not establish whether the products caused adverse health outcomes. It also did not demonstrate that infant formulas intended specifically for babies under six months routinely contained added sucrose or fructose.
Research elsewhere has examined possible links between added sugars in infant formula and early growth. A 2025 study published in The Journal of Nutrition followed 234 infants from predominantly low-income households in the United States. Researchers assessed dietary intake at six, nine and 12 months and found an association between higher added-sugar intake from formula and higher weight-for-length scores.
For every additional 10 grams of added sugar consumed daily through formula, weight-for-length scores increased by an average of 0.060. The study was observational, so it cannot establish that sugar caused the difference. Its findings also cannot be directly generalised to Indian infants.
A separate study published in Frontiers in Nutrition in 2023 examined dietary data from 95 infants and toddlers aged nine to under 16 months. It found an association between added sugars consumed through infant formula and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption later in infancy. The researchers did not establish a significant association between formula-derived added sugars and added-sugar intake from table foods. The small sample and cross-sectional design limit the conclusions that can be drawn.
These studies examine different aspects of early sugar exposure: the composition of products available in India, associations with infant weight and possible links with later dietary patterns. None establishes that the proposed restriction will prevent childhood obesity. They do, however, provide grounds for examining whether particular sugars need to be added to products intended for very young infants.
Infant’s Food: Why the First Six Months Matter
The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF recommend exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life, followed by the introduction of appropriate complementary foods at around six months while breastfeeding continues.
For infants who require an alternative to breast milk, appropriately formulated infant formula can provide essential nutrition. Its carbohydrate composition must meet nutritional requirements for growth and development. The question for regulators is whether adding particular sugars serves a necessary nutritional purpose in products designed for this age group.
WHO’s 2023 guideline on complementary feeding recommends that children aged six to 23 months should not consume foods high in sugar, salt and trans fats. Its evidence review identified associations between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption during infancy and later obesity in some studies, although the certainty of the evidence was low. The recommendation concerns the broader diet of children aged six months and older; it does not specifically establish the effects of sucrose or fructose in infant formula.
The distinction between naturally occurring sugars and added sugars is equally important. Milk naturally contains lactose, which provides energy. Sucrose and fructose may instead be introduced as ingredients during product formulation. Their use needs to be assessed against the nutritional requirements of the intended age group.
What the FSSAI Amendment Proposes
Under the Food Safety and Standards (Foods for Infant Nutrition) Regulations, 2020, lactose and glucose polymers are the preferred carbohydrate sources in infant nutrition products. The existing rules permit sucrose and/or fructose when required as a carbohydrate source, subject to prescribed limits.
The draft Food Safety and Standards (Foods for Infant Nutrition) Amendment Regulations, 2026, proposes prohibiting the addition of sucrose and fructose to products intended for infants up to six months of age. This would remove the existing allowance for these two sugars in products for this age group. FSSAI has invited objections and suggestions from stakeholders within 60 days from the date on which copies of the relevant Gazette notification are made available to the public. The submissions will be considered before the amendment is finalised.
Health
NMC Directs Medical Colleges to Set Up Patient Safety Committees
The National Medical Commission has directed medical colleges and medical institutions to establish patient safety committees, designate nodal officers and strengthen procedures to prevent avoidable harm.
Health
World Food Day: India’s Childhood Obesity Burden Raises Concerns Over Diabetes Risk
More than 41 million Indian children and adolescents aged 5–19 were living with overweight or obesity in 2025, according to the World Obesity Atlas 2026. The growing burden raises concerns about long-term health risks, including type 2 diabetes, and highlights the need for healthier food environments, better nutrition and stronger school-based interventions.
With more than 41 million Indian children and adolescents living with overweight or obesity, experts warn that unhealthy food environments could increase future risks of type 2 diabetes. New national guidance on childhood diabetes and proposed restrictions on junk food sales near schools highlight the need for preventive action.
As the world observes World Food Day on October 16, childhood nutrition is emerging as a challenge that extends beyond hunger and undernutrition. The growing prevalence of overweight and obesity among children is raising concerns about their long-term health, including their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
India faces a particularly significant challenge. The World Obesity Atlas 2026 estimates that approximately 14.9 million children aged five to nine and 26.4 million children and adolescents aged 10–19 in India were living with overweight or obesity in 2025. Together, these figures amount to more than 41 million young people.
The report also estimates that around 1.39 million Indian children aged five to 19 had hyperglycaemia attributable to high body mass index in 2025. Hyperglycaemia refers to elevated blood glucose levels and is a health indicator associated with metabolic risk; it should not be interpreted as a count of children diagnosed with diabetes.
The figures highlight the importance of addressing childhood obesity early, before associated health risks become more difficult to manage.
Food environments and the risk of early-onset diabetes
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in September 2026 that 400 million children and adolescents aged five to 19 worldwide were overweight in 2024, including 170 million living with obesity. The prevalence of overweight in this age group increased from 8% in 1990 to 20% in 2024.
Childhood obesity is influenced by a combination of biological, social, economic and environmental factors. Diets high in energy but low in essential nutrients, limited opportunities for physical activity and the easy availability of heavily marketed processed foods can contribute to unhealthy weight gain.
Obesity can increase insulin resistance, in which the body’s cells respond less effectively to insulin. This can raise the risk of type 2 diabetes, a condition that is increasingly important to consider in children and adolescents.
However, the relationship between food and diabetes requires an important distinction. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition in which the body’s immune system attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. It is not caused by eating sugary foods or being overweight. Type 2 diabetes develops through different mechanisms and is associated with factors including excess body weight, genetics and physical inactivity.
The two conditions require different approaches to prevention and treatment.
India introduces a national childhood diabetes framework
In a significant policy development, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released a comprehensive guidance document on diabetes mellitus in children on May 3, 2026.
Diabetic checkup.Representational image.Image credit:Pexels
The framework outlines a structured approach to screening, diagnosis, treatment and long-term management, linking community-level identification with district hospitals and medical colleges. It also provides for free-of-cost care at public health facilities, including insulin therapy, blood glucose monitoring supplies and follow-up services.
The guidance promotes awareness of the early warning signs of type 1 diabetes through the “4Ts”: Toilet, Thirsty, Tired and Thinner. These refer to frequent urination, excessive thirst, unusual tiredness and unexplained weight loss.
The initiative is important because timely diagnosis and access to insulin can be lifesaving for children with type 1 diabetes. It also highlights the need for health systems to identify and manage diabetes before complications develop.
Schools become a focus of food policy
India is also considering measures to improve the food environments surrounding schools. A Reuters report published on September 24, 2026, said the country was moving towards restrictions on the sale of foods high in fat, salt and sugar within a 50-metre radius of schools.
The proposed measures would affect vendors and shops selling products such as sugary drinks and packaged snacks near educational institutions. The proposal reflects growing concern about the availability of unhealthy foods in places where children spend much of their day.
If implemented effectively, school-focused measures could form part of a wider strategy that includes healthier school meals, accessible drinking water, nutrition education, physical activity and clearer food labelling.
However, restrictions alone cannot address the problem. Families also need affordable access to fruits, vegetables, pulses and other nutritious foods. Public-health measures must account for household budgets and the realities of food access in different communities.
Beyond calories
World Food Day 2026, themed “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow,” offers an opportunity to reconsider what food security means for children. Access to sufficient calories is essential, but the nutritional quality of food also matters.
Reducing the future burden of type 2 diabetes requires action across healthcare, education, food policy and community environments. At the same time, children living with type 1 diabetes need timely diagnosis, uninterrupted insulin supplies and long-term medical support
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