Does serum CAR-3 play a role in pancreatic cancer diagnosis?

Tumor Markers in the Diagnosis, Monitoring and Therapy of Pancreatic Cancer: State of the Art

The present review focuses on the utility of serum tumor markers in screening, diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of pancreatic cancer. Serum determination of all tumor markers studied offers no help in screening or early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. For diagnosis, blood group-related antigens, in particular CA 19-9, are considered the best indicators of this neoplasm. However, as occurs with other glycoproteic tumor markers, the circulating levels of CA 19-9 are significantly influenced by jaundice, probably because its liver metabolism is reduced. Therefore, the finding of elevated CA 19-9 levels in jaundiced patients has to be evaluated with caution. Since pancreatic cancer recurrences are not susceptible to treatment, the clinical role of widespread use of tumor marker determination in follow-up programs is limited and calls for a critical evaluation.

SPan-1 and Exocrine Pancreatic Carcinoma. The Clinical Role of a New Tumor Marker

AIMS OF THE STUDY

Considerable progress has been made in imaging techniques over the past few years, yet this has not resulted in the ability to reach an earlier diagnosis of exocrine pancreatic cancer. The search for a noninvasive diagnostic tool capable of early diagnosis has led to the development of a series of serum tumor markers. This article discusses the clinical evaluation of SPan-1 and its comparison with established markers such as CA 19.9, CEA, TPA and CA 242.

METHODS

The markers were measured in preoperative serum samples collected from 46 patients who had undergone surgery for ductal carcinoma of the pancreas, 20 patients with chronic pancreatitis, and 23 patients with other digestive neoplasms.

RESULTS

The sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy for pancreatic cancer were as follows: [table: see text]

CONCLUSIONS

The antigenic determinant SPan-1, recognized by monoclonal antibodies, is elevated in sera of patients with exocrine pancreatic cancer. SPan-1 may be considered as an additional useful and reliable serum marker for the detection of this neoplasm, but it does not significantly improve the diagnostic accuracy obtained with CA 19.9.