Timeline of pancreatic cancer

This is a timeline of pancreatic cancer, describing especially major discoveries and advances in treatment of the disease.

Big picture

Year/period	Key developments
18th century	First description of pancreatic cancer in western medical literature.
19th century	First manifestation of pancreatic cancer as a disease entity. First pancreaticoduodenectomy is attempted.
20th century	Pancreaticoduodenectomy improves early in the century and becomes successful. Allen Whipple popularizes pancreaticoduodenectomy in the 1940s. In the 1970s tobacco use is found to cause pancreatic cancer. Chemotherapy drugs are released towards the end of the century in the United States.
2000s	Researchers begin to use CT scan and endoscopic imaging to screen for pancreatic tumors. The pancreatic cancer genome is mapped.
Recent years	Pancreatic cancer remains an invariably deadly disease without any improvements in patient outcome over the last two decades. Pancreatic cancer is the twelfth most common cancer in the world, with 338,000 new cases diagnosed in 2012.

Full timeline

Year/period	Type of event	Event	Location
1761	Development	Italian anatomist Giovanni Battista Morgagni is attributed with the first known description of pancreatic cancer in his publication De Sedibus Et Causis Morborum Per Anatomen Indagatis Libri Quinque.
1858	Development	American physician Jacob Mendez Da Costa describes the first microscopic diagnosis of adenocarcinoma, manifesting pancreatic cancer as a true disease entity.
1898	Development	Italian surgeon Alessandro Codivilla performs the first reported attempt at a pancreaticoduodenectomy for a tumor involving the head of the pancreas (the patient did not survive the postoperative period).
1906	Development	Scottish embryologist John Beard proposes that pancreatic proteolytic digestive enzymes represent the body's main defense against cancer, and that enzyme therapy would be useful as a treatment for all types of cancer.
1909	Development	German surgeon Walter Kausch first describes the pancreaticoduodenectomy procedure.
1914	Achievement	German surgeon Georg Hirschel performs the first successful pancreaticoduodenectomy in one stage.
1937	Achievement	American physician Alexander Brunschwig performs the first successful pancreaticoduodenectomy in two stages for pancreatic cancer.
1940	Development	American surgeon Allen Whipple performs a successful one-stage pancreaticoduodenectomy, being the first to popularize the procedure (today also called Whipple procedure). His major surgical operation involves the removal of the head of the pancreas, the duodenum, the proximal jejunum, gallbladder, and often the distal stomach. This operation is performed to treat cancerous tumours of the head of the pancreas, malignant tumors involving the common bile duct, duodenal papilla or ampulla of Vater, or duodenum near the pancreas, some precancerous lesions, some cases of pancreatitis with or without a definitive cause, and rarely, severe trauma.	United States
1942	Achievement	First successful total pancreatectomy is performed at Mayo Clinic, for an insulinoma.	Rochester, Minnesota, US
1944	Discovery	First report of tuberculosis mimicking pancreatic cancer.
1947	Discovery	First recognition of a causative relationship between the subcutaneous adiponecrosis and pancreatic cancer.
1951	Development	First performance of resection and reconstruction of the superior mesenteric vein for pancreatic cancer at University of Minnesota.	Minnesota, US
1955	Development	Researchers first describe the clinical features of a gastrinoma (a tumor in the pancreas or duodenum).
1958	Development	Researchers first describe the persistent watery diarrhea and hypokalemia associated with a pancreatic islet-cell tumor.
1963	Development	The first case of pancreatic cancer with skeletal metastases is described.	Russia
1967	Discovery	Study shows that more than half of patients with pancreatic cancer have psychological symptoms occurring as early as 43 months before physical symptoms.
1979	Discovery	Researchers discover biomarker CA 19-9 (commonly for diagnosis and management of patients with pancreatic cancer).
1981	Treatment	Researchers discover that adding fluorouracil to standard radiation boosts one year survival from 10 percent to 40 percent for patients with locally advanced inoperable pancreatic cancer.
1981	Discovery	Study at University of Maryland Medical Center links environmental exposure to pancreatic cancer. Researchers discover that male victims are more often employed in the dry-cleaning business or in occupations involving close exposure to gasoline. They also find that women at risk of PC are more likely to smoke cigarettes, have uterine tumors and have had ovaries removed or have miscarriages.	Baltimore, Maryland, US
1985	Treatment	Chemotherapy plus radiation are found to be effective as adjuvant therapy for patients with earlier stage of pancreatic cancer.
1992	Development	Endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) of a pancreatic mass is first described. Today it is the preferred method to sample pancreatic mass lesions.
1993	Development	Researchers show that a vaccine composed of tumor cells irradiated and genetically modified to produce immune system growth factor GM-CSF could induce potent, specific, and long-lasting anti-tumor immunity in mice. This work leads to the therapeutic cancer vaccine GVAX.	United States
1994	Discovery	Study finds that longtime cigarette smokers double their risk of pancreatic cancer.	United States
1996	Treatment	Gemcitabine is approved for pancreatic cancer that has spread to nearby organs or to distant parts of the body, after clinical trial demonstrates that it modestly extends survival compared to fluorouracil, the previous standard of care.
1998	Development	First description of pancreatic stellate cells (star-shaped cells that play an essential role in pancreatic fibrosis in chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer).
1999	Organization	The Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research is established as a non-profit organization with the mission of advancing scientific and medical research related to the diagnosis, treatment, cure and prevention of pancreatic cancer.	Bethpage, New York, US
2004	Treatment	The European Study Group for Pancreatic Cancer (ESPAC) finds that adjuvant use (after surgery) of fluorouracil more than doubles 5 year survival for patients with early pancreatic cancer.
2005	Treatment	United States FDA approves targeted [...] erlotinib after trial finds that adding it to standard gemcitabine chemotherapy extends the lives of patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer, compared to gemcitabine alone.	United States
2007	Development	First description of pancreatic cancer stem cells. Since then, a number of cancer cells with distinct functional features (including self-renewal and exclusive in vivo tumorigenicity) emerges.
2007–2008	Treatment	Two important studies demonstrate that adjuvant (post-surgery) treatment with gemcitabine, further extends survival for patients with early pancreatic cancer.
2008	Study	The pancreatic cancer genome is mapped. 63 genetic abnormalities are identified, along 12 key "pathways" that are present in the vast majority of pancreatic tumors.
2009	Organization	The Pancreatic Cancer Action is established as a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer.	Hampshire UK
2010	Treatment	Major trial shows that initial treatment with FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy extends survival by nearly five months in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, compared with standard gemcitabine treatment.
2013	Treatment	Study shows that combination of two chemotherapy drugs protein-bound paclitaxel and gemcitabine is more effective than standard single [...] therapy for people with metastatic pancreatic cancer.
2014		United States FDA designates GVAX given with another immunotherapy, CRS-207, as a “Breakthrough Therapy” for pancreatic cancer.	United States

AdenocarcinomaAdiponecrosisAlessandro CodivillaAlexander BrunschwigAllen WhippleAmpulla of VaterBaltimoreBethpage, New YorkBiomarkerCA 19-9ChemotherapyChronic pancreatitisCigarette smokingCommon bile ductCRS-207CT scanDiagnosisDiarrheaDigestive enzymeDuodenumEndoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspirationEndoscopyEnzyme therapyErlotinibFDAFluorouracilFOLFIRINOXGallbladderGasolineGastrinomaGemcitabineGenetic disorderGenomeGeorg HirschelGiovanni Battista MorgagniGVAXHampshireHypokalemiaInsulinomaJacob Mendez Da CostaJejunumJohn Beard (embryologist)Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer ResearchMajor duodenal papillaMarylandMayo ClinicMinnesotaNon-profitPancreasPancreatectomyPancreatic cancerPancreatic Cancer ActionPancreatic fibrosisPancreatic stellate cellsPancreaticoduodenectomyPancreatitisProtein-bound paclitaxelRadiationRochester, MinnesotaRussiaSkeletal metastasesStem cellsStomachSurgeryTimeline of bladder cancerTimeline of brain cancerTimeline of colorectal cancerTimeline of kidney cancerTimeline of liver cancerTimeline of lung cancerTuberculosisTumorigenicityUKUnited StatesUniversity of Maryland Medical CenterUniversity of MinnesotaUSWalter Kausch

External links (18)

cancerprogress.net/...

casesjournal.biomedcentral.com/...

link.springer.com/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/...

www.cancerresearch.org/...

www.doiserbia.nb.rs/...

www.dr-gonzalez.com/...

www.futuremedicine.com/...

www.intechopen.com/...

http://www.joplink.net/prev/200901/news.html

www.wcrf.org/...