First in Area Doing New Procedure to Detect Pancreatic Cancer

Florida Hospital Doctor is First in Central Florida to Perform Advanced Endoscopic Ultrasound Procedure

Equipment allows multiple views to help with earlier detection and diagnosis of pancreatic cancer

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 16, 2009 - Florida Hospital patient, Tracy Young, believes a new endoscopic ultrasound procedure saved her life, as it detected a tiny tumor that may have gone unnoticed. She was able to pursue the proper treatment at an early stage, rather than the tumor developing into pancreatic cancer, and recently had surgery to remove it.

Tracy is a patient of Florida Hospital physician, Dr. Jose Nieto, who recently became the first in Central Florida to use new equipment called Alpha 1 Processor for endoscopic ultrasound procedures. About half of Dr. Nieto's patients travel at least an hour to see him, and now he can offer this new technique that can improve diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and lead to higher rate of detection and treatment.

More than 38,000 patients are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year, and this type of cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. Therefore, a procedure like the Alpha 1 Processor is important because it can detect lesions as small as one to two millimeters that may have otherwise not been discovered. The highly accurate procedure is different than previous endoscopic ultrasounds because the equipment allows multiple views of the pancreas as well as surrounding organs.

People with a family history of pancreatic cancer should begin getting tested at age 40, by getting a CAT scan, MRI or endoscopic ultrasound. The endoscopic ultrasound has the highest sensitivity and is the best screening mechanism to detect pancreatic cancer.

Patients should also be screened for pancreatic cancer if they experience symptoms such as chronic pancreatitis, abdominal and back pain, loss of appetite or weight loss.

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