|
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. Last year more than a quarter of a million people worldwide died from the disease, and that number is rising. But recently, a 16-year-old Maryland student created a simple test that can detect pancreatic cancer at its earliest stage of development -- a breakthrough that promises more effective diagnosis and treatment. The gifted young scientist, who was an invited guest of First Lady Michelle Obama at the President's State of the Union address Tuesday, is getting his career off to a roaring start. Jack Andraka won the grand prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the largest high school science competition in the world, held last year in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The 16-year-old Maryland resident is the youngest-ever recipient of the $75,000 award, beating out more than 1,500 students from 70 countries. Jack's win follows a lifelong interest in science. It's a passion encouraged by his parents, inspired by his brother -- himself a prize winner at the 2010 Intel Fair -- and nurtured at his high school in Glen Burnie, near Washington. He won the competition for his development of a simple and inexpensive test that provides early detection of pancreatic cancer, something he became interested in after losing a close family friend to the disease. “I went on the Internet and I found that 85 percent of all pancreatic cancers are diagnosed late, when someone has less than a 2 percent chance of survival, and I was thinking, ‘That’s not right. We should be able to do something,’” Andraka said. | 
