PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Thursday is World Pancreatic Cancer Day, and while the prognosis for most people diagnosed with the disease isn't good, there is hope on the horizon. Dr. Alexander Raufi, a gastrointestinal oncologist at Brown University Health, said pancreatic cancer is on the rise. "When I first started practicing, almost a decade ago, we were seeing 50,000 cases [nationwide] of pancreatic cancer a year," Raufi said. "We're now seeing 65,000 cases a year." RELATED: Judge Frank Caprio’s story of empathy and strength on the national stage Raufi said pancreatic cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Rhode Island. The disease is particularly deadly because it's hard to catch early. Raufi said CAT scans, MRIs and other types of tests haven't been effective forms of screening yet, but he expects that may change in the next few years. "With the advent of a lot of these, really innovative tests that look for circulating tumor DNA or molecules that are produced by the tumor early on, and those tests are still in early phases of development, but they're moving along pretty quickly," he explained. "I'm optimistic that in the next couple of years, we'll probably have a fairly, good test, perhaps not perfect, but a good test to detect at least early stage disease." MORE: Pancreatic cancer survivor uses power of music to inspire others While it may take some time, Raufi is hopeful there will be improvements to pancreatic cancer treatments in the future, too. "I think the main thing is that... things are changing," Raufi said. "There's a lot of hope that these treatment changes, that these trials, are going to produce some real results for people." Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup SIGN UP NOW