People who later developed pancreatic cancer lost visceral and subcutaneous fat faster than similar people without cancer over the three years before diagnosis, according to a Mayo Clinic analysis of routine abdominal CT scans. The study, published in the journal Pancreatology and announced Oct. 20, suggests scans taken for other reasons may hold early warning signs. The approach is not a clinical test, and its accuracy was moderate.
The idea could eventually matter to many households because adults often have abdominal CT scans for kidney stones, injuries, or other problems. If those images could flag rising risk, doctors might one day catch some cancers earlier without new scans. For now, people should not ask for CT scans as a screening tool.
