Blood Test for Early Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis – A Protein–Metabolite Panel

Pancreatic cancer remains among the most difficult cancers to treat. Unlike some other common cancers, no screening tool for early pancreatic cancer diagnosis has yet entered use (such as mammography for breast cancer or colonoscopy for colon cancer). In August 2018, Journal of the National Cancer Institutepublished a study indicating that a method based on detecting certain metabolites in blood can identify early-stage pancreatic cancer with high accuracy.

Study details

The study's main idea arose from cancer cells releasing certain substances into the blood differently or in greater amounts than normal cells.

The study compared plasma samples from 20 pancreatic cancer patients with samples from 80 healthy controls to identify candidate metabolite biomarkers as candidates. These candidate markers were then examined a second time in samples from, with 5 early-stage and 4 advanced-stage cases, 9 pancreatic cancer patients, and from 51 healthy people with benign pancreatic cysts. Validation was subsequently performed using samples from 39 early-stage pancreatic cancer patients and 82 healthy controls. The effectiveness of combining this early-detection metabolite panel with another protein panel previously investigated for early-stage pancreatic cancer was also analyzed.

Performance of the early-detection metabolite panel

For use in the panel, 5 metabolites were selected:

• Acetylspermidine,
• Diacetylspermine,
• One indole derivative and
• Two lysophosphatidylcholines

This five-protein–metabolite panel detected early-stage pancreatic cancer with % 66.7 sensitivity and % 95 specificity.

Adding a previously approved protein marker panel for early-stage pancreatic cancer, consisting of CA 19–9, LRG1 and TIMP1, to this five-protein–metabolite panel was reported to improve the model's early-detection performance.

In conclusion,a complete cure for pancreatic cancer is currently possible only by surgically removing the tumor. However, most pancreatic cancer patients are not at an early stage at diagnosis: the tumor has grown and spread and is inoperable. Early diagnosis is therefore particularly important for pancreatic cancer. This protein–metabolite panel, tested in only around 200 samples so far, will of course be investigated in much larger studies following this research, clarifying whether it can become a screening tool for early pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

Pancreatic Cancer Statistics for Türkiye, for Those Interested

Although pancreatic cancer is not among the 10 most common cancers worldwide, it is, for example, the 3rd most common cause of cancer death in the USA. It thus remains the cancer type with the lowest overall survival.

According to our latest official data, published in 2014, approximately 97 thousand men, 62 thousand women and 159 thousand people in total develop cancer in our country each year. Across all age groups, pancreatic cancer is not among the 10 most common cancers. However;

• Between ages 50-69, it is the 9th most common cancer in men and the 10th in women.
• Over age 70, it is the 8th most common cancer in men and the 5th in women. Approximately 7000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in our country each year, around 4400 of them men.

Known Risk Factors for Pancreatic Cancer;

• Smoking
• Obesity
• Abdominal fat accumulation.