Beyond early detection: how health checkups independently contribute to pancreatic cancer survival outcomes

Although early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains challenging, health checkups may improve clinical outcomes. This retrospective study compared the clinical characteristics of PDAC cases identified during health checkups (HC cohort, 61 patients) with those diagnosed through other methods (non-HC cohort, 801 patients). Transabdominal ultrasonography was more frequently utilized in the HC cohort ( P  < 0.01). Patients in the HC cohort were significantly younger ( P  < 0.05), with lower CEA and CA19-9 levels and smaller tumor sizes ( P  < 0.01). Notably, the HC cohort showed significantly higher proportions of stage IA and stage IIA disease and higher rates of curative surgical resection (all P  < 0.01). Overall survival in the HC cohort was significantly higher than in the non-HC cohort ( P  < 0.01 for log-rank test and multivariable analysis), and tumor size ≤ 20 mm was significantly associated with survival exceeding 5 years in the HC cohort ( P  = 0.015). Our findings suggest that health checkups facilitate earlier diagnosis of PDAC and improve long-term prognosis. Establishing a standardized screening system using transabdominal ultrasonography, specifically optimized to detect tumors ≤ 20 mm, is essential to improving survival in patients with PDAC.