A new Mayo Clinic investigation reveals that alterations in body composition visible on CT imaging could serve as early indicators of pancreatic cancer development. The research, published in Pancreatology, examined abdominal CT scans from 1,825 individuals diagnosed with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma alongside 3,650 comparable individuals without the disease.
Scientists applied an AI-driven body composition analysis to track variations in skeletal muscle, subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat over time. Their analysis showed that those who later received a pancreatic cancer diagnosis exhibited more pronounced reductions in visceral and subcutaneous fat during the three-year period before their diagnosis compared to the control group.
While fat loss was most noticeable over the full three-year span, differences in muscle mass became particularly evident in the year immediately preceding diagnosis. Patients who developed pancreatic cancer demonstrated significantly greater declines in both fat types than their non-cancer counterparts.
Yan Bi, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist and lead study author, emphasized the disease’s insidious nature. “Pancreatic cancer often develops silently, making early detection extremely challenging,” Dr. Bi explained, “These findings suggest that routine CT scans may capture physiological changes associated with pancreatic cancer before patients are diagnosed.”
The findings carry potential implications for earlier cancer identification. Researchers determined that these body composition shifts, visible through standard CT imaging, differ markedly from patterns observed in individuals who never developed pancreatic cancer. This suggests routine scans might reveal warning signs years before traditional diagnostic methods.
Michael Wallace, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist and study co-author, highlighted the study’s discriminatory power. “To our knowledge, this is the largest controlled study to evaluate these prediagnostic body composition trajectories and one of the first to assess whether they can help distinguish patients who go on to develop pancreatic cancer from those who do not,” he said.
The study confirms that longitudinal monitoring of muscle and fat measurements could enhance risk stratification efforts. While current methods show moderate effectiveness, the researchers believe these biomarkers could complement existing early detection strategies.
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