Mayo Clinic researchers find means to differentiate pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis
In the quest for a diagnostic test for pancreatic cancer, a study team, which included investigators from Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and Florida, analyzed pancreatic secretions and discovered a molecular marker associated with pancreatic cancer.
For the study, researchers examined pancreatic juices used for the breakdown of food, along with exfoliated cells from the pancreas. In the search for a molecular marker differentiating between pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis, researchers discovered that 75% of patients later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer had the altered gene CD1D. Only 9% of patients with chronic pancreatitis presented with the altered CD1D gene.
“CD1D performed much better than any other pancreatic secretion marker previously tested in identifying pancreatic cancer,” said study leader Massimo Raimondo, MD, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
The research was presented at Digestive Disease Week 2013.
Source: Mayo Clinic News Release.