Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest malignancies, largely because it is rarely diagnosed early. Initial symptoms such as back pain, fatigue, or unexplained weight loss are mild and non-specific, and are often attributed to far more common conditions. In Brazil, at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, molecular biologist Mateus Nobrega Aoki, Ph.D. is investigating whether a simple blood-based test could enable earlier detection and eventually support a nationwide screening strategy.
Finding cancer earlier through a simple blood test
Mateus Nobrega Aoki, Ph.D. explains how his team uses advanced blood-based testing to detect pancreatic cancer earlier and uncover markers that can help predict patient outcomes.
We are using very sensitive and specific methodologies, such as next generation sequencing and digital PCR, to look for specific biomarkers for pancreatic cancer detection.
Mateus Nobrega Aoki, Ph.D., Public Health Technologist, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation
The team’s workflow for analyzing cell-free DNA
Bio
Mateus Nóbrega Aoki
Mateus Nóbrega Aoki is a molecular biologist at Fiocruz’s Instituto Carlos Chagas in Curitiba, Brazil, where he studies how cancers, especially pancreatic cancer and leukemias, evolve at the molecular level. Trained in biomedicine and experimental pathology at the State University of Londrina and in biochemistry at the University of São Paulo, he now focuses on translational work that connects genetic and biomarker discoveries to clinical tools such as liquid biopsy. He is a CNPq Research Productivity Fellow and part of the international PANDoRA consortium.
January 2026