Pancreatic Cancer Screening for At-risk Individuals (PancreasScan)

April 21, 2026 updated by: Mandeep Sawhney, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Pancreatic Cancer Screening for At-risk Individuals (The Pancreas Scan Study)

The investigators' goal is to conduct a prospective multicenter study to evaluate the yield and outcomes of screening of pancreas cancer in individuals who are at-risk for pancreatic cancer. We plan to use International Cancer of the Pancreas Screening (CAPS3) Consortium recommendations to standardize study population, screening methodology, and study outcomes.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Methods The investigators' goal is to conduct a prospective multicenter study to evaluate the yield and outcomes of pancreas cancer screening in high-risk individuals. High-risk patients who are undergoing pancreatic cancer screening in accordance with national guidelines at participating study centers will be eligible for the study. Information regarding patient characteristics, findings at screening examination, and patient outcomes will be collected.

Primary Outcome (Primary Aim):

To identify the proportion of patients who meet International Cancer of the Pancreas Screening Consortium screening criteria 3rd update (CAPS Jan 2020), or more updated national guidelines, who are found at the screening to have high-risk pancreatic lesions amenable to treatment (definition of "high-risk lesions amenable to treatment" is provided under the section on study outcomes).

Secondary outcomes (Secondary Aims) will include (details are provided under the section on study outcomes):

  1. Proportion of patients diagnosed with any stage pancreatic cancer
  2. proportion of patients undergoing pancreatic surgery
  3. Cancer-related outcome, defined as a cancer-related death
  4. proportion of patients experience harms, defined as any complications/adverse event due to screen related procedures
  5. Comparison of cancer outcome, defined cancer-related death, in screen-detected cancer with cancer outcomes reported by the SEERs population-based registry. Study overview Study type: a prospective observational cohort. High-risk patients who meet study inclusion criteria at study centers will be identified.

Screening and patient follow-up will be performed at individual study centers per standard clinical practice. Patient characteristics, screening performed and screening results, clinical outcome data will be collected by individual study centers. This data will be stored and analyzed at central study REDCap located at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC)

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

1395

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
        • Recruiting
        • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Mandeep Sawhney, MD,MS,FASGE
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Andy Silva-Santisteban, MD
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Any patient who meets the eligibility criteria exposed above based on CAPS3 or updated national pancreatic screening guidelines criteria at BIDMC and collaboration centers part of the study in the time frame of 2020 to 2027 (which is the end of enrollment)

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Inclusion criteria 1-3 are indications for pancreatic cancer screening as defined by the CAPS3 guidelines or updated national pancreatic cancer screening guidelines. Patients who do not meet these guidelines but are undergoing pancreatic cancer screening at the discretion of their treating physician at participating study centers will also be included in the study. Based upon the indication for screening, patients will be categorized as either meeting CAPS3 screening criteria, or not meeting CAPS3 screening criteria.

    1. Familial Pancreatic cancer kindred. This is defined as family history of pancreas cancer that meet the criteria listed below.

      1. If at least two affected relatives who are First degree relatives (FDR) to each other, of whom at least one is an FDR to the individual considered for surveillance
      2. If at least three affected relatives on the same side of the family, of whom at least one is an FDR to the individual considered for surveillance
      3. If at least two affected relatives on the same side of the family, of whom at least one is an FDR to the individual considered for surveillance Screening is usually initialed at age 50 years or 10 years younger than the youngest family member with pancreatic cancer

    2. Patients with genetic susceptibility to pancreas cancer

      1. Patients with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome diagnosed with using clinical criteria or with a deleterious mutation in liver kinase B1/Serine/threonine kinase 11 (LKB1/STK11). Screening is usually initiated at age 40 years or later.
      2. Patients with Familial Atypical Multiple Mole Melanoma Syndrome (FAMMM syndrome), diagnosed using clinical criteria or CDKN2A p16 mutation.

Screening is usually initiated at age 45 years or 10 years younger than the youngest family member with pancreatic cancer.

  1. Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer syndrome: diagnosed using clinical criteria or deleterious Breast Cancer gene 1 (BRCA1), Breast Cancer gene 2 (BRCA2), Partner and Localizer of BRCA2 (PALB2). The usual indication for screening is:

    • BRCA1 mutation and at least one affected first-degree relative with pancreatic cancer
    • BRCA 2 mutation and at least one affected first-degree relative, or at least two relatives of any degree with pancreatic cancer
    • PALB2 mutation and at least one affected first-degree relative with pancreatic cancer Screening is usually initiated at age 45 or 10 years younger than the youngest family member with pancreatic cancer; or per updated national screening guidelines

  2. Lynch syndrome or Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated (ATM) mutations with at least one affected first-degree relative (FDR). Lynch syndrome could be diagnosed either by using clinical criteria or Mutator L homolog 1 (MLH1), Mutator S homolog 2 (MSH2), Mutator S homolog 6 (MSH6), Postmeiotic Segregation Increased, S. Cerevisiae, 2 (PMS2) or EPCAM mutation.

    Screening to be initiated at age 45 or 10 years younger than the youngest family member with pancreatic cancer.

  3. Patients with hereditary pancreatitis diagnosed using clinical criteria or deleterious Serine Protease 1 (PRSS1) mutation. Screening is usually initiated at age 40 years or 10 years younger than the youngest family member with pancreatic cancer 3. New-onset diabetes, age > 50 years with weight loss. 4. Patients who do not meet these CAPS screening criteria but are determined by the site principal investigator to be high-risk for pancreatic cancer based upon family history or other risk factors, and are undergoing pancreatic cancer screening will also be included in the study. Indication for pancreatic cancer screening and age at which screening was initiated will be recorded.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of pancreatic cancer who are undergoing diagnostic EUS or MRCP e.g. acute recurrent pancreatitis, abnormal imaging

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Cohort
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Patients who are at high-risk for pancreatic cancer
Patients that meet the eligibility criteria based on CAPS3 or updated national pancreatic cancer screening guidelines
Other: Screening for pancreatic cancer
Screening for pancreatic cancer using EUS or MRI

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Proportion of screening patients found to have high-risk pancreatic lesions amenable to treatment
Time Frame: From year 1 to year 12 (until the end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032), according to the standard of care designated by GI team.

Proportion of patients who meet CAPS 3 or updated national screening guidelines criteria who are found at screening to have high-risk pancreatic lesions amenable to treatment.

These are defined as the following:

  1. Lesions with high-grade dysplasia (HGD)
  2. High-grade pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN)
  3. Resectable or borderline resectable pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancers that were staged T1-3, N0-2, and M0 designated as resectable or borderline resectable. Cancers that were staged as T4 or M1 were considered locally advanced or metastatic and therefore designated as unresectable
  4. Main duct intra-ductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN).This will be defined per Fukuoko guidelines as dilation of main pancreatic duct ≥ 5 mm, after duct dilation due to other causes have been excluded.
  5. Branch-duct IPMN with "worrisome features".
  6. Neuroendocrine tumor ≥ 2 cm.
From year 1 to year 12 (until the end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032), according to the standard of care designated by GI team.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Proportion of screening patients found to have high-risk pancreatic lesions
Time Frame: From year 1 screening to year 12 (end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032) screening (annually)
Proportion of patients who meet CAPS screening eligibility criteria, who are found at screening to have high-risk pancreatic lesions amenable to treatment
From year 1 screening to year 12 (end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032) screening (annually)
Proportion of screening patients found to have low or moderate-risk pancreatic lesions by screening
Time Frame: From year 1 to year 12 (end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032) according to the standard of care designated by GI team.

Proportion of patients undergoing pancreatic cancer screening who are found to have low or moderate-risk pancreatic lesions. Low or moderate-risk pancreatic lesions pancreatic lesions are defined as:

  1. Branch-duct IPMN without HGD
  2. Neuroendocrine tumor < 2 cm
  3. dilation of main pancreatic duct < 8 mm
  4. Chronic pancreatitis-like change
From year 1 to year 12 (end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032) according to the standard of care designated by GI team.
Proportion of patients undergoing screening who undergo pancreatic surgery
Time Frame: From year 1 to year 12, which is the end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032.(throughout the duration of the study)
Proportion of patients who undergo pancreatic surgery as a result of screening test results following the Fukuoka revised guidelines for the management for high-risk lesions or surgical treatment designated by interdisciplinary medical team
From year 1 to year 12, which is the end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032.(throughout the duration of the study)
Proportion of "low yield" pancreatic surgeries performed in screening patients
Time Frame: From year 1 to year 12, which is the end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032.(throughout the duration of the study)
Proportion of patients who undergo "low-yield pancreatic surgery" as a result of screening test results. Low yield pancreatic surgery is defined surgery where surgical pathology does not yield high-risk pancreatic lesions. See primary outcome for definition of high-risk pancreatic lesions.
From year 1 to year 12, which is the end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032.(throughout the duration of the study)
Proportion of screening patients who undergo non-pancreatic surgery
Time Frame: From year 1 to year 12 (the end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032), according to the standard of care designated by GI team
Proportion of patients who undergo non- pancreatic surgery as a result of screening test results.
From year 1 to year 12 (the end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032), according to the standard of care designated by GI team
Proportion of screening patients who experience complications/adverse events of screen-related procedures
Time Frame: From year 1 to year 12 (the end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032), according to standard of care designated by GI team
Proportion of patients who experienced any complications or adverse events due to screen-related procedures as Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS), Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) or others that have been designated by attending in the GI department. Complications and adverse events will be aggregated to be reported as one value (complications/adverse events). Complications, defined as adverse events that emphasize direct causality between medical care and the adverse outcome or event. Adverse event, defined as an event that may or may not be preventable or result from a medical error
From year 1 to year 12 (the end of at least 5 years follow up in 2032), according to standard of care designated by GI team

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Collaborators

Washington University School of Medicine
Rush University Medical Center
University of Arkansas
Wake Forest University
Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Mandeep Sawhney, MD,MS,FASGE, BIDMC-Harvard Medical School

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

July 10, 2020

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2032

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2032

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 18, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 7, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

August 16, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 23, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 21, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2020P000872

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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