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Tumor Biomarkers and Diagnosis of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

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Novel therapeutic approaches for gastrointestinal malignancies

Abstract

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is one of the highly malignant cancers of gastrointestinal tract. Patients during the initial stages usually do not present characteristic signs and symptoms. Even if malignancy is suspected, differentiation between the malignant and benign conditions might be challenging. Recently, an increasing interest has been focused on the utility of immunological tumor markers. The use of tumor biomarkers aims at catching/identifying the cancer at a relatively earlier stage, surveillance, response to the treatment, endpoints, and any adverse effects. Based on biochemical characteristics, tumor markers can be classified into multiple groups including genetic, glycoproteins, ribonucleic acids (RNAs), proteins, oncofetal antigenic markers, metabolite-based markers, and so on. In this chapter, we sought to discuss some important biomarkers that can be useful in the diagnostic evaluation of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

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Abbreviations

AUC:

Area under the curve

CA:

Carbohydrate antigen

CSF:

Cerebrospinal fluid

CTC:

Circulating tumor cells

ctDNA:

Circulating tumor deoxyribonucleic acid

EUS:

Endoscopic ultrasound

FDA:

Food and Drug Administration

FNA:

Fine needle aspiration

IGF:

Insulin-like growth factor

MIC-1:

Macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1

PAC:

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma

RNA:

Ribonucleic acid

TGF-β:

Transforming growth factor-β

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Acknowledgments

Author contributions: Dr. Ishtiaq Hussain and Dr. Mamoon Ur Rashid conceived the idea and subsequently all the authors diligently contributed to the development and preparation of this research manuscript (book chapter), including the literature search, concept organization, data interpretation, and writings. All the authors have read and approved the final draft for publication.

Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest associated with this research manuscript (book chapter).

Financial disclosures: None to disclose.

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Hussain, I. et al. (2020). Tumor Biomarkers and Diagnosis of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. In: Nagaraju, G.P., Peela, S. (eds) Novel therapeutic approaches for gastrointestinal malignancies. Diagnostics and Therapeutic Advances in GI Malignancies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5471-1_14

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