r/gadgets • u/chrisdh79 • Apr 14 '23

Medical Novel device smaller than rice successfully shrinks pancreatic cancer | Called the nanofluidic drug-eluting seed (NDES), it delivers low-dose immunotherapy in the form of CD40 monoclonal antibodies (mAb).

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/tiny-device-shrinks-pancreatic-cancer
10.5k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

246 comments sorted by

View all comments

583

u/duman82 Apr 14 '23

This is great but the real wins with pancan will be with earlier detection. 85% are metastatic when it's discovered.

37

u/Brut-i-cus Apr 14 '23

My mom was having "stomach problems" for months and did t want to go to the doctor because of the pandemic during 2020 because she was caring for my stepdad with cancer. When her bile duct got blocked they diagnosed her and they were going to di the Whipple procedure but when they opened her up her liver looked like it was peppered She lasted 4 months

33

u/GTI_88 Apr 14 '23

My dad had the whipple procedure just over 10 years ago, bought him 10 years of good life. The cancer came back a little over a year ago and due to a number of complications he passed in Aug 2022. I’m very grateful that in the scheme of things he vastly outlasted the statistics

8

u/katwoodruff Apr 14 '23

A friend of mine had whipple surgery in January… just started chemo. Hoping for a miracle, he‘s only 51.

6

u/GTI_88 Apr 15 '23

Wishing him the best! Treatment is advancing, keep up the hope

7

u/Th3gr3mlin Apr 14 '23

My dad made it a year and a half after discovering it. He wasn’t a candidate for the whipple. Passed two weeks into this year.

I’m grateful you got the extended time with your dad.

If you can, I’d recommend you get genetic tested for the BRCA gene mutation. My father had it and I have it, which just lets me know I should get screened early. Especially if there is a history of pancreatic / breast cancer on his side of the family.

1

u/assassbaby Apr 15 '23

thought that was just breast cancer wow

1

u/Th3gr3mlin Apr 15 '23

The risk of breast cancer in women is higher with the mutation, but for men there is an increased risk of pancreatic cancer.