Post Imaging Pancreatic Cancer (PIPC) project
Overview
Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage, with many patients presenting as emergencies, and when curative treatment is no longer possible. However, earlier signs of the disease may appear on imaging and there may be missed opportunities for earlier detection. Each year in the UK, around 800 people (around 7.7% of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer) receive their diagnosis 3 to 18 months after having a CT or MRI scan in which the cancer was not detected. These are classified as post imaging pancreatic cancers. The Post Imaging Pancreatic Cancer (PIPC) project aims to improve the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer by identifying and analysing cases of PIPC.
The PIPC project will conduct a ‘Root Cause Analysis’ (RCA) of patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in England who had imaging prior to their diagnosis.
Further details
We will develop an online form within the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) clinical audit system (which also hosts the PEUGIC and PCCRC projects) to enable NHS trusts across England to review their PIPC cases. Data collected through this process, on pancreatic cancer diagnosed within the past five years, will be analysed by the PIPC project analysis team at Sandwell and Birmingham NHS Trust, helping to generate insights that could lead to earlier detection of pancreatic cancer and improve outcomes for patients.
Timeline
2025 – 2027
Desired Outcomes
Findings from the project on why PIPC occurs will be published, based on aggregated analysis of data submitted by individual NHS trusts. These insights will be shared across the NHS to support earlier diagnosis and improve patient care.
Results will be disseminated through academic publications, conference presentations and professional networks, as well as via the HDI and NDRS websites and social media channels.
Learning from the results will also be shared with national and international pancreatic, gastrointestinal and radiological societies and networks.
From the outset, the project team will work closely with patient and public involvement (PPI) collaborators, including representatives from Pancreatic Cancer UK, to ensure patient perspectives are embedded throughout.
Project Partners
This project is managed by HDI and supported by an NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Grant. The project is led by Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust (Prof. Nigel Trudgill, Dr Gney Mehta), Dr Shahd Ahmed, working in collaboration with:
Pancreatic Cancer UK Patient and Public representatives (Roy Bowdery, Ferris Cowper); Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Prof. Sanjay Pandanaboyana); The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (Mr Andrew Smith, Dr Raneem Albazaz); University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust (Dr Brinder Mahon, Prof. Keith Roberts); University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust (Dr Caron Parsons, Dr Susanna Kallioinen) and the NDRS at NHS England.
Contact
For more information about the PIPC project, please contact: