March 1, 2012	

Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis

My uncle died of pancreatic cancer in 1983.  I happen to be putting together a photo album for his brother's 90th birthday this year.
  You can see from the pictures he's sick three years earlier and perhaps as many as 5 years earlier!  Its clearly an accelerated aging process.  Side by side with his older brother you can see that he begins to look older than his older brother.  My parents neighbor is currently dying from pancreatic cancer.  Her diagnosis was no earlier than my uncle's in 1983 which was about 6 months.

The solution therefore to early diagnosis of pancreatic and perhaps other cancers is to include in the patients regular checkup a digital photograph under controlled conditions.  The photographs are accumulated over the years and computer analyzed and compared using criteria developed by researchers.  A "unusual rapid aging" conclusion based on the critera would trigger either more frequent digital imaging or more intrusive testing that already exists.

Using this technique, I would think, would improve the detection by a year or two or perhaps three.  It has to be better than six months!

Respectfully Submitted