Advances in new biomarkers for early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer is associated with poor prognosis and is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in Japan. Although long-term survival can be expected if it is surgically resected at stage 0 or with a diameter of 10mm or less, an effective screening method for early-stage pancreatic cancer has not yet been established. Since conventional tumor markers such as CA19-9 have a poor diagnostic accuracy for early pancreatic cancer, the development of new biomarkers is desirable. Liquid biopsy is a diagnostic method for detecting and analyzing tumor-derived molecules in non-solid tissue, primarily bood, and the usefulness has been reported in recent years. Liquid biopsy includes analysis of cell-free circulating DNA, such as oncogene mutation and cancer related methylation, and analysis of miRNA contained in cancer-derived exosomes. Advances in various analytical techniques have made it possible to detect not only advanced cancer but also early-stage pancreatic cancer and cases at risk of pancreatic cancer. Further innovations are expected for the development of efficient pancreatic cancer screening.