What the World is Coming To: Teen's Pancreatic Cancer Diagnostic Wins $75,000 Intel Prize

Jack Andraka, 15, won top prize at this year's Intel International Science and Engineering fair for his new method to detect pancreatic cancer. As the Intel press release notes: 

Based on diabetic test paper, Jack created a simple dip-stick sensor to test blood or urine to determine whether or not a patient has early-stage pancreatic cancer. His study resulted in over 90 percent accuracy and showed his patent-pending sensor to be 28 times faster, 28 times less expensive and over 100 times more sensitive than current tests. Jack received the Gordon E. Moore Award, named in honor of Intel co-founder and retired chairman and CEO of $75,000.

The Washington Post adds that a patent is pending for the test. Andraka's test is a true dianostic breakthrough since there are currently no non-invasive tests for detecting pancreatic cancer. Early detection of this cancer would be a boon to patients since the five-year survival rate for localized pancreatic cancer is 23 percent. While that doesn't sound great, it's a hell of a lot better than the 5 percent overall five-year survival rate for patients diagnosed with the disease. 

Hearty congratulations to Mr. Andraka and also to the other 400 participants who won prizes in the competition.