New blood test identifies hard-to-detect pancreatic cancer with 85% accuracy

Called PAC-MANN, the test developed at OHSU could help save lives

By Angela Yeager February 12, 2025 Portland, Oregon

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Knight Cancer Institute research of pancreatic cancer

Top left, Rosalie Sears, Ph.D., Ben Kingston, Ph.D., Megan Sousa, and Sadik Esner, Ph.D., with Jared Fischer, Ph.D., sitting left; and Jose Luis Montoya Mira, Ph.D. (OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks)

Knight Cancer Institute research of pancreatic cancer

Jared Fischer, Ph.D., left, and Jose Luis Montoya Mira, Ph.D., cancer researchers at OHSU, have developed PAC-MANN, a test that uses a small blood sample to detect changes in protease activity, a key indicator of the most common and deadliest form of pancreatic cancer. (OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks)

Jose Montoya Mira, Ph.D. (OHSU)

Jared Fischer, Ph.D. (OHSU)

New blood test identifies hard-to-detect pancreatic cancer with 85% accuracy