The Hirshberg Foundation is honored to announce that Dr. Canto will discuss screening and surveillance in individuals with a high-risk for pancreatic cancer at the 16th Annual Symposium on Pancreatic Cancer.
While participating in a pancreatic cancer screening program is not appropriate for everyone, it is an important consideration for individuals with known high-risk factors. For those with particular risk factors, including family history and certain genetic syndromes that increase susceptibility to pancreas cancer, it may be appropriate to participate in a research screening program. Surveillance may also be clinically recommended in instances such as a new diagnosis of a pancreas cyst or lesion. Many experts believe that individuals with a greater than fivefold risk of developing pancreatic cancer should undergo regular early detection tests to survey their pancreas. Regular surveillance uses medical imaging and endoscopic techniques to detect precancerous lesions or early pancreatic cancer that can be surgically removed. Screening and surveillance of high-risk individuals is a topic important to our pancreatic cancer community and we are happy to have an expert in the field present more information.
Marcia (Mimi) Canto, M.D., M.H.S. is a Professor of Medicine and Oncology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is also the Director of Clinical Research at the Johns Hopkins Division of Gastroenterology. Dr. Canto received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the Philippines in Manila in 1981 (summa cum laude). She received her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1985 from the University of the Philippines and completed her training in Internal Medicine from State University of New York Sciences Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York.
Dr. Canto completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Gastroenterology-Hepatology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and received a Master of Health Science in Clinical Epidemiology from The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. Dr. Canto came back to Johns Hopkins after advanced endoscopic training at the University Hospitals of Cleveland. Her primary clinical and research interests include endoscopy, particularly the use of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in detecting early pancreatic cancer and its precursors. She has shown that endoscopic ultrasound can be used to detect asymptomatic precancerous lesions in patients with a family history of pancreatic cancer, downstage pancreatic cancer screen-detected pancreatic cancer, and improve survival.
A subject that we are excited to learn more about from one of the top experts in this field, we welcome Dr. Canto to educate us on Pancreatic Cancer Screening and Surveillance in High-Risk Individuals.
