Advances in Biomarker Research for Pancreatic Cancer

Title:Advances in Biomarker Research for Pancreatic Cancer

Volume: 18 Issue: 17

Author(s): Kruttika Bhat, Fengfei Wang, Qingyong Ma, Qinyu Li, Sanku Mallik, Tze-chen Hsieh and Erxi Wu

Affiliation:

Keywords: Pancreatic cancer, biomarker, tumor progression, risk factor, CA 19-9

Abstract: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a leading cause of cancer related deaths in United States. The lack of early symptoms results in latestage detection and a high mortality rate. Currently, the only potentially curative approach for PC is surgical resection, which is often unsuccessful because the invasive and metastatic nature of the tumor masses makes their complete removal difficult. Consequently, patients suffer relapses from remaining cancer stem cells or drug resistance that eventually lead to death. To improve the survival rate, the early detection of PC is critical.

Current biomarker research in PC indicates that a serum carbohydrate antigen, CA 19-9, is the only available biomarker with approximately 90% specificity to PC. However, the efficacy of CA 19-9 for assessing prognosis and monitoring patients with PC remains contentious. Thus, advances in technology and the detection of new biomarkers with high specificity to PC are needed to reduce the mortality rate of pancreatic cancer.

Cite this article as:

Bhat Kruttika, Wang Fengfei, Ma Qingyong, Li Qinyu, Mallik Sanku, Hsieh Tze-chen and Wu Erxi, Advances in Biomarker Research for Pancreatic Cancer, Current Pharmaceutical Design 2012; 18 (17) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/13816128112092439