In a significant breakthrough that could eventually extend the survival of patients with one of the deadliest of all malignancies, an international team of researchers has devised an investigational blood test that might one day help doctors detect pancreatic cancer earlier. The team from the U.S., China, South Korea, and Japan created and tested a biomarker panel that detects small amounts of RNA genetic material that breaks off from pancreatic cancer cells and circulates in the bloodstream, known as circular RNA or circRNA, according to results of a study published n October 13, 2023 in the journal Gastroenterology. The article is titled ”A Circulating Panel of circRNA Biomarkers for the Noninvasive and Early Detection of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.”