More Czechs are facing pancreatic cancer each year, with doctors now diagnosing over 2,700 patients annually—a thousand more cases than just two decades ago. The troubling reality is that most diagnoses come too late, making treatment of advanced tumors exceptionally difficult.
“The vast majority, about 80 percent of patients, are diagnosed with locally advanced or metastatic disease, where the chance of cure is minimal,” explains oncologist Radim Němeček, head of the Pancreatic Cancer Center at Masaryk Oncology Institute. The primary culprit is the tumor’s stealthy nature—it grows undetected for extended periods, making early intervention nearly impossible. While five-year survival rates have improved over recent decades, recovery remains possible only for those whose cancer is caught early enough for surgical removal.
Pancreatic cancer has become one of the deadliest forms of the disease. From the 1980s through 2023, doctors diagnosed 78,137 people with this cancer, most frequently between ages 60 and 79, with slightly higher rates among men. In 2023 alone, over 2,400 patients died from the disease. The cancer’s aggressive resistance to treatment, combined with its tendency to affect vital blood vessels, makes it particularly challenging to localize and eliminate.
Currently, the Czech Republic lacks a nationwide screening program—and according to Němeček, broad screening wouldn’t be practical given the complexity of diagnosis. However, high-risk individuals with genetic predispositions or family histories are monitored at gastroenterology centers. Warning signs include abdominal pain around the navel that may radiate to the back, rapid weight loss, yellowing of the skin or eyes, and unexplained fever. Notably, a peculiar form of diabetes can emerge months before the tumor manifests, particularly in older adults experiencing unintentional weight loss.
Hope is emerging from innovative research. At Lipidica, a company affiliated with the University of Pardubice, scientists are refining blood tests that could detect the disease early through lipid analysis. This lipidomic test, already patented in multiple countries including the US and EU, is currently being tested in fifteen major Czech hospitals with nearly 300 at-risk participants. Meanwhile, doctors emphasize lifestyle factors: smoking doubles the risk compared to non-smokers, while maintaining healthy weight, limiting alcohol, reducing processed meats and red meat, and eating a diverse diet can help lower risk.
