# PRedictiOn Algorithms for the DeTECTion of Early Stage Pancreatic Cancer (PRO-TECT)

> **NIH NIH R01** · KAISER FOUNDATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE · 2023 · $754,965

## Abstract

Project Title: PRedictiOn algorithms for the deTECTion of early stage pancreatic cancer (PRO-TECT)
Project Summary
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. A major reason for the
lethal nature of this disease is the lack of effective strategies for early detection. As a result, the vast majority
of cancers are detected at a very late stage. The delay in diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer could
be due to many reasons including, 1) lack of a clear quantitative or algorithm-based definition of a high-risk
population who would benefit from active surveillance, 2) suboptimal use of image findings that could
potentially foretell a growing tumor, 3) system or referral-related delay from time of abnormal finding to
diagnosis and treatment. Methods to accelerate the detection of pancreatic cancer leading to increased
proportion of early stage tumors at the time of diagnosis have the potential to have an immediate impact on
survival. The objective of the proposed work is to establish a platform for development and implementation of a
data-driven approach for detection of early stage pancreatic cancer within an integrated care setting.
Specifically, the proposed work will focus on development of empiric algorithms for prediction of early stage
pancreatic cancer as well as systematic pancreatic cancer-risk stratification of patients based on natural
language processing-aided extraction of pancreatic features from existing pre-diagnostic imaging reports to
enhance understanding of the natural history of disease progression. Finally, we will conduct a prospective
cohort study to assess the accuracy of an algorithm-based approach for detection of early stage pancreatic
cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10656240
- **Project number:** 5R01CA230442-05
- **Recipient organization:** KAISER FOUNDATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Bechien Wu
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $754,965
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10656240

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10656240, PRedictiOn Algorithms for the DeTECTion of Early Stage Pancreatic Cancer (PRO-TECT) (5R01CA230442-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10656240. Licensed CC0.

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