Clinical decision support system as a risk assessment tool to aid in earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the most lethal form of cancer. More than 85% of diagnoses are made during the advanced stage and currently, there is no systematic approach for early diagnosis. Therefore, we developed a clinical decision support system that can be used as a heuristic approach in identifying pancreatic cancer risk levels in individuals and in turn, lead to earlier diagnosis. The design method included the use of 14 common pancreatic cancer risk factors stratified into five weight groups. Twelve case scenarios were used to test the system and the results show that it is possible to develop a system that can identify pancreatic cancer risk levels but the impact the system will have on earlier diagnoses of pancreatic cancer is uncertain. Further studies are needed to identify the specific weights and stratifications of the risk levels and risk factors for pancreatic cancer to develop a more effective CDSS.