Atlanta, Ga. (November 7, 2025) – Piedmont Oncology today opened a stand-alone Early Detection Pancreatic Cancer Clinic (EDC), the first of its kind in Georgia, at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital. The EDC will provide accurate risk assessment for patients, improve awareness of pancreatic cancer, allow opportunities for potential research opportunities, and increase ease of access for referring clinicians and for patients. The EDC would not be possible without the generous contributions and commitments by philanthropic donors to the program.
Pancreatic cancer is a highly aggressive malignancy, with a five-year survival rate of 13 percent for all cases, according to American Cancer Society. By 2026, pancreatic cancer is expected to be the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Unfortunately, living in the South has recently shown to be a risk factor for developing pancreatic cancer, and the incidence is increasing in the South and in younger patients. Piedmont Oncology and the EDC are focused on reversing this trend.
For the entire United States, the incidence for pancreatic cancer is 13.4 patients per 100,000. In Georgia, the rate is higher at 13.7 per 100,000 patients but it is most acutely felt in the state’s African-American population at a rate of 14.6 per 100,000. While pancreatic cancer is rare, representing only 3 percent of all cancers in the country, it is expected to be the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States in 2026. The central goal of the EDC is to detect pancreatic cancer earlier, thereby getting to more cures.
Diagnosing pancreatic cancer early is a challenge for many reasons - there is no screening test (unlike breast cancer, colon cancer, and other cancers), and symptoms can be vague and nonspecific. Because there is no screening test for pancreatic cancer, the EDC will be closely engaged with helping to develop a screening test through international collaborations with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Mayo Clinic, and Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). Additionally, there are many patients that are at higher genetic risk, but unfortunately, many of these patients do not know that they are at higher risk.
“The opening of the Early Detection Pancreatic Cancer Clinic heralds a new day for patients throughout the Southeast,” said Walter J. (Wally) Curran, M.D., Whitaker Endowed Chief of Piedmont Oncology. “This team’s unrelenting pursuit of better care and better outcomes drives their desire to evolve pancreatic cancer diagnosis and care in ways that will improve survival rates significantly in the future.”
Andrew Page, M.D., Director of Surgical Oncology and Hepato-Pancreato Biliary (HPB) Surgery for Piedmont and founder of the Piedmont Pancreas Cancer Surgery Clinic, will serve as the clinic’s medical director. The clinic will include a dedicated Advanced Practice Provider who is experienced with the complexities of pancreatic cancer care, dedicated time from a genetic counselor, and support staff for scheduling and operating the clinic.
“Because of pancreatic cancer’s high mortality rate, early detection is critical and that means education as to risk factors is essential,” said Dr. Page, who is the founder and director of the Atlanta Pancreas Cancer Conference held annually in November for physicians, clinicians, patients, and caregivers. “The survival rates for patients with pancreatic cancer have improved in recent years. This clinic is focused on ending the stigma of pancreatic cancer screening, easing the burden for referring physicians, and developing a screening test to detect pancreatic cancer earlier. This clinic will help bring more cures to Georgians.”
These collaborations with the NIH, TGen, Origin Commercial Ventures and others would not be possible without the generous contributions from donors, particularly the Purple Pansies, one of the largest and most successful patient advocacy groups in the region.
Patients can also access the clinic through a self-referral or through any referring physician.