Imaging technique used to study brain tissue can identify precancerous lesions in the pancreas

According to Inside Precision Medicine researchers from the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal have figured out a way to detect potentially pre-cancerous lesions in the Pancreas using a device called diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI. DTI is a specific type of MRI that can identify pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN), which are lesions that often turn into pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs), an aggressive form of cancer that makes up more than 90% of all pancreatic cancers.  PDACs are responsible for almost half a million deaths across the world each year.

This discovery is important not only for detecting PanINs but also for advancing research of them and their development into PDAC. 

Prior to this finding, there are no other non-invasive tools for diagnosing pancreatic cancer.

Furthermore, pancreatic cancer symptoms are often misdiagnosed because of their similarities to other more common health conditions.  Symptoms may include unexplained weight loss, abdominal pain and diabetes.

Identifying PDAC early is crucial in preventing pancreatic cancer as PDACs often develop and grow for many years before becoming malignant. 

For 30 years, DTI has been used for brain tissue research. Carlos Bilreiro, MD from Champalimaud Clinical Centre’s Radiology Department and Noam Shamesh, PhD, head of the preclinical lab at Champalimaud Research are the first to consider DTI for precancerous lesions in the pancreas.

DTI is able to capture images of tissue to measure the diffusion of water molecules within them.  Experiments conducted on mice that were genetically altered to be predisposed to developing PanINs, proved that DTIs could dependably identify the existence of lesions when compared to actual tissue samples. DTI testing on human tissue that followed further confirmed this finding.

Additional studies are necessary before DTI is ready for practical use in clinical settings.  The team from Champalimaud is currently developing clinical trials using human participants.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging DTI pancreatic cancer pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia PanIN PDAC Pre-cancerous lesions

Last modified: February 12, 2025