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Pancreatic Cancer Surveillance Programme

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Overview

In order to support the NHS Long Term plan to have three quarters of cancers diagnosed at an early stage, we are promoting the national EUROPAC study to all healthcare professionals across primary care, secondary care and genetic services.

People with a family history of pancreatic cancer can be referred to the European Registry of Hereditary Pancreatic Disease for annual surveillance.

Around 10% of pancreatic cancers are caused by hereditary factors. These occur in families with a history of either pancreatic cancer, or hereditary pancreatitis, or who carry an at-risk genetic mutation predisposing to these conditions. NICE guidance (NG85) recommends pancreatic cancer surveillance for people with inherited high risk factors.

EUROPAC

What is EUROPAC?

EUROPAC is a registry for families with histories of Familial Pancreatic Cancer and Hereditary Pancreatitis. The EUROPAC study also runs surveillance programmes for individuals who are deemed high-risk. Using the family history individuals provide, they can assess their lifetime risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Surveillance is offered on a yearly basis, and using a combination of CT, EUS, MRI and blood tests.

EUROPAC Researching Hereditary Pancreatic Diseases (europactrial.com)

In order to ensure people with inherited risk factors for pancreatic cancer have access to a high-risk surveillance pathway aligned to NG85 NICE guidance, NHS England has partnered with EUROPAC. This partnership will provide a route from the NHS into a surveillance programme run at participating NHS Trusts.

The nearest surveillance centre for patients in the SWAG Cancer Alliance region is:

University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust.

Referral

There are a number of referral routes into EUROPAC from primary care, secondary care and clinical genetic services. See the Health Professional Information Leaflet for more details.

To find out more and how to refer, including a referral form and eligibility criteria, see the cancer alliance web page here: EUROPAC

Regional navigators have been recruited to help support you and any patients referred. If you have any queries regarding eligibility, you can discuss this with our region’s EUROPAC surveillance navigator, Eleri Hughes by emailing: Europac.Study@liverpoolft.nhs.uk

EUROPAC also accepts self-referrals therefore please find attached a poster to display on local notice boards to raise awareness of this programme.

If you have any questions on this study or would like printed copies of the poster please contact the SWAG team on england.swagca@nhs.net

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