A new study published in the journal Nature Medicine showed the development of pancreatic cancer before its diagnosis and symptoms appear.

Researchers said that even though this isn't a large enough basis for a new testing method, their findings could still shed light on the effects of pancreatic cancer on certain parts of the body.

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This research can also help in the study of cachexia, a deadly muscle disease that causes weight loss, muscle atrophy, fatigue and loss of appetite for someone not trying to lose weight, they explained.

Brian Wolpin, one of the researchers, said that most people with pancreatic cancer get diagnosed only when they've reached advanced stages, where many people die within a year of diagnosis.

He said that by detecting the disease at its earliest state can improve humans' ability to treat pancreatic cancer.

For this study, researchers looked at the metabolic changes on pancreatic cancer patients that can be detected before the disease is diagnosed.

They studied the blood samples of 1,500 people that are participating in a large health track study and compared the results of participants who developed pancreatic cancer to those who had not.

Wolpin said that researchers found high levels of amino acid on the people that developed pancreatic cancer.

They also found out people who were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer usually live for two to 25 years.

Wolpin theorized that the presence of pancreatic tumor causes an increase in amino acids in the body of people with pancreatic cancer.

They found out that increase happened because of the breakdown of muscles tissue that caused amino acids to be released in the bloodstream.

Van Heiden, one of the researchers, said that they are surprised that their results showed that the breakdown of muscle protein begins earlier in the disease process.

He said that this work has the potential to spur progress in detecting pancreatic tumors in an earlier stage.

It can also help identify new treatment strategies for pancreatic patients, he added.