What's happening Blogs Could simply breathing into a bag revolutionise the detection of pancreatic cancer? Published: 25 February 2025 By Katherine Free (Research Communications Manager) and Alfie Bailey-Bearfield (Head of Influencing & Health Improvement) at Pancreatic Cancer UK Last month Pancreatic Cancer UK were delighted to be invited to showcase our work to develop the world’s first breath test for pancreatic cancer at the AMRC’s Medical Research Charity Showcase, held at the House of Commons. Pancreatic cancer is the least survivable common cancer, and over half of people diagnosed die within three months. Unlike many other cancers, which have seen significant improvements in survival rates over the last 50 years, for pancreatic cancer this has not changed much since the 1970s. Pancreatic cancer is extremely challenging to detect and treat. Over 80% of people with the disease are diagnosed at a late stage, when the disease has already spread around the body. One of the reasons for this is that the symptoms of pancreatic cancer, which include indigestion, back pain, changes to your poo and jaundice, are vague and non-specific. We desperately need new tools and tests to help GPs identify people presenting with these vague symptoms who are at high risk of having pancreatic cancer so that they can be urgently referred for further investigations. Improving the early detection of pancreatic cancer is one of our key areas of research investment, along with funding the development of new and more effective treatments. Research in this area is gaining momentum, with several potential new tests currently in development which look for markers of pancreatic cancer in blood, urine and breath. Developing a breath test for pancreatic cancer Pancreatic Cancer UK are funding Professor George Hanna and his team at Imperial College London to develop the world’s first breath test for pancreatic cancer, known as the VAPOR study. This test works a bit like a breathalyser, and detects chemicals released in the breath called Volitile Organic Compounds (VOCs). People with pancreatic cancer breathe out different VOCs to healthy people and therefore there is great potential to use them to create an affordable, non-invasive and accurate test to detect this cancer. Ultimately, Professor Hanna and his team hope to develop a single test that could detect and differentiate five major gastrointestinal cancers; oesophageal, gastric, pancreatic, liver and colorectal. We were really excited to attend the Medical Research Charity Showcase last month along with a member of Professor Hanna’s research team, and a demo breath testing device. It was positive to see so much interest in the potential of the breath test, and a wide recognition that more needs to be done to improve tools and tests for the early detection and diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. The breath test, and other innovative tests like it, also align with the new Government’s health missions and aims to move more care into the community. As it stands, the breath test is undergoing testing in around 700 people with and without pancreatic cancer, to allow the team to refine the test and determine whether if is effective at identifying the disease. The results of this first phase should be available in the summer. If successful, the next stage would be to evaluate the test in over 6000 people, to ensure that is is accurate in a “real world” clinical setting. The event was a great opportunity to speak to Parliamentarians about the critical role they and the new government can play in ensuring any new tests like the breath test can be embedded into the NHS as rapidly as possible (if they’re successful). We have and will continue to be making the case for adoption and funding of new early detection tests like these in the government’s cancer plan. If embedded into the NHS, this breath test could truly be a game-changer for the detection of pancreatic cancer. If successful, it could help to make diagnosis much faster, more efficient and hopefully prevent avoidable late stage emergency-based diagnosis. Pancreatic cancer is a truly devastating disease but thanks to the power of innovative research, for the first time ever it really feels like hope is on the horizon. Image 1: The breath test would involve GPs collecting a breath sample in a bag which would then be sent off to be analysed for the presence of chemicals that may indicate pancreatic cancer. Image 2 (and main image): Dr Caoimhe Walsh from Imperial Colleage London along with Alife Bailey-Bearfield and Chris Macdonald from Pancreatic Cancer UK at the AMRC Medical Research Charity Showcase. Image 3: Dr Caoimhe Walsh from Imperial College London speaking to Steve Yemm, MP for Mansfield at the AMRC Medical Research Charity Showcase. Manage Cookie Preferences