Overview
- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Mayo Clinic combined CA19-9 and THBS2 with two newly identified proteins, ANPEP and PIGR, to form the four-marker panel.
- Published in Clinical Cancer Research, the assay distinguished pancreatic cancer from non-cancer cases 91.9% of the time and detected early-stage disease in 87.5% of cases.
- The test differentiated cancer from healthy individuals and from non-cancerous pancreatic conditions such as pancreatitis, with a reported false-positive rate of about 5%.
- Study authors emphasize that results come from retrospective, banked samples and call for prediagnostic and large prospective studies before any clinical use.
- Researchers suggest future evaluation in people at higher risk, including those with a family history, certain genetic risks, pancreatic cysts, or long-term pancreatitis, as pancreatic cancer currently lacks effective screening and has poor survival in the UK.