BOSTON (Reuters) – Researchers in Italy said last week they have developed a test that identifies most people with autoimmune pancreatitis, which could make it easier for doctors to distinguish it from pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest types of cancer.

But the method is not perfect. While it gave a correct diagnosis in 94 percent of cases, five percent of people with pancreatic cancer falsely tested positive for the less-serious inflammatory condition.

"Therefore (it) cannot be used alone to distinguish autoimmune pancreatitis from pancreatic cancer," Dr. Luca Frulloni of the University of Verona and colleagues wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine. The pancreas makes hormones that control how the body metabolises food. People with autoimmune pancreatitis often suffer symptoms such as jaundice or abdominal pain.

Its symptoms are similar to those of advanced pancreatic cancer and it can be difficult, using x-rays known as CT scans or other scans, to distinguish between the two diseases, Dr Antonio Puccetti of the University of Genoa, who also worked on the study, said by e-mail.

As many as 10 percent of patients who have the pancreas removed because they are believed to have pancreatic cancer actually have autoimmune pancreatitis, an easily treated condition.