Dear Colleagues,

Despite decades of effort, the diagnosis and management of the diseases of the pancreas is still a challenge due to the inaccessibility of this organ. There are multiple methods to evaluate the pancreas, but to date, few of them confirm the presence of any pancreatic disease or can help in monitoring treatment success.  

Pancreatic cancer remains a lethal disease due to its rapid progression and early metastasis, with a life expectancy of less than 6 months and a 5-year survival rate of around 5%. Pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease of the pancreas. Its diagnosis, mainly based on the presence of morphological or functional changes, is difficult because no standard diagnostic criteria or method of diagnosing this pathology have been established. Diabetes is a disease characterized by β-cell destruction or dysfunction, resulting in progressive hyperglycemia. Finally, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency results from destruction of the pancreatic parenchyma, making it impossible to maintain the minimum production levels of digestive enzymes.

As early diagnosis is the best way to improve the clinical outcome of these patients, the lack of robust, accurate, and non-invasive methods to detect early stages of pancreatic diseases represents the most important obstacle to the improvement of outcomes. The present Issue aims to publish studies that propose new diagnostic or prognostic tools in the battle against pancreatic diseases.

Dr. Octavio Caba
Guest Editor

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• pancreatic diseases
• pancreatic cancer
• pancreatitis
• diabetes
• exocrine pancreatic insufficiency
• biomarkers
• diagnosis
• prognosis