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 ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. A small organ hidden deep in the body, diagnosing pancreatic cancer can be difficult; but now, doctors are using light to help them catch the deadly disease earlier.
William Howatt spends his retirement fixing things. As a pediatrician, Howatt spent his career fixing children.
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"It's sort of ironic because the same medicines I used to prescribe for cystic fibrosis patients, I'm now taking," Howatt told Ivanhoe.
But he's not taking it for cystic fibrosis. It's to treat the pancreatic cancer Howatt was diagnosed with a year-and-a-half ago. He's one of the few to battle this disease this long.  Ninety-five percent of patients die from the disease -- more than half die within six months of finding out they have it. That's why it's critical to diagnose pancreatic cancer early.
"A small tumor can be millimeters in size when it starts," James Scheiman, M.D., a gastroenterologist at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, explained to Ivanhoe.
Symptoms resemble chronic pancreatitis -- inflammation of the pancreas. That's why doctors at the University of Michigan are using light to help detect the differences between the two.
"Different tissues have different interactions with the light," Dr. Scheiman said.
The goal of their optical spectroscopy research is to create a fiber optic probe that would feed through a needle, into the pancreas. A computer would read the differences in the spectrum of light from different cells, allowing doctors to know immediately if the patient is suffering from inflammation or cancer.
 After five weeks of radiation and six months of chemo, Howatt is still working in his shop, hoping to beat the odds and build a life cancer-free.
In the future, this same light technique could also be used to detect changes in breast cancer.
For additional research on this article, click here.
To read Ivanhoe's full-length interview with Dr. Scheiman, click here.
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If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Melissa Medalie at mmedalie@ivanhoe.com.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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