A "GROUND-breaking" new pancreatic cancer trial -- which aims to match patients with the most effective treatment -- is to begin in Scotland.

The trial, which has been funded in large by Cancer Research UK, will bring precision medicine to pancreatic cancer treatment for the first time in the UK.

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Precision-Panc, a research programme and clinical trials project led by the University of Glasgow, will run the trials.

And now the programme has been given approval by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to begin recruiting patients at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Patients will enter the trial through a Master Protocol -- the first step in them being recruited before enrolling in a suitable clinical trial.

As part of the protocol, each patient will undergo a tumour biopsy to get material that will then be used for molecular profiling.

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The results may then be used to help match patients to the most appropriate available clinical trial.

Pancreatic cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the UK with a five-year survival rate of less than seven percent.

Around 9,600 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a year in the UK and around 8,800 people die.

It is said this ability to "link clinical data with the patient's unique molecular profiling data will enable rapid new discoveries."

The team at Glasgow Royal Infirmary have spent the last year ensuring people can provide samples for the Precision Panc study as part of their routine diagnostic care.

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This will make it easier for patients to be able to enter the study without additional tests.

It is thought more than 650 pancreatic cancer patients will take part in the trials, with scope to add more in the future.

Dr Ian Walker, Cancer Research UK's director of clinical research, said: "This is the first step towards exciting advancements in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

"We're thrilled to be turning the latest research discoveries into effective treatments and delivering them to patients.

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"We hope that by increasing treatment options for this hard to treat disease, we can find the right approach for individual patients and give them the best chance of beating their cancer."

And at the same time, the first of three planned PRIMUS (Pancreatic Cancer Individualized Multi-arm Umbrella Study) clinical trials have opened.

Recruitment at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow is now underway -- it is the first UK site to receive this approval.

Additional sites across the UK and Northern Ireland are currently in set up and are expected to receive approval in early 2018.

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Professor Andrew Biankin, Chief Investigator of this project and Regius Chair of Surgery and Director of the University of Glasgow Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, said: "This is an extraordinary opportunity to transform the therapeutic options and treatment pathway for pancreatic cancer patients.

"It is one of the first projects in the UK to bring genetic sequencing into the clinic in order to direct the care of pancreatic cancer patients."