One study published in 2001 that surveyed 305 people with pancreatic cancer illustrated the challenge of early diagnosis: Of the 49.5% of the people surveyed who reported early problems, about 4% reported having a sudden disgust for preferred tastes (like coffee, smoking, or wine) that preceded other symptoms by more than six months. Five percent had a loss of appetite, a feeling of early fullness with meals, or profound weakness more than six months before more obvious symptoms developed, and 1% had attacks of acute pancreatitis more than six months before their diagnosis with pancreatic cancer.
The rarity and vagueness of these situations points out the difficulty of using early symptoms to catch pancreatic cancer at an early stage.