A Blood-based Gene-expression Scoring System for Cancer Screening in Patients With Branch-duct Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms

Anticancer Res. 2020 Nov;40(11):6551-6561. doi: 10.21873/anticanres.14680.

Abstract

Background: In patients with branch-duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (BD-IPMN), we aimed to develop a novel blood-based biomarker utilizing a gene-expression profile for the detection of pancreatic malignancies, such as IPMN-derived carcinoma (IPMC) or pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Patients and methods: We enrolled 40 patients with pancreatic tumors (24 BD-IPMNs, four IPMCs and 12 PDACs) and identified the characteristic gene-expression profiles in pancreatic malignancies. Subsequently, we constructed a gene-expression scoring system for the proper diagnosis of pancreatic malignancies. The result was validated in 14 patients (five IPMNs, three IPMCs and six PDACs).

Results: The scoring system utilizing the expression levels of 13 genes showed high diagnostic yield (sensitivity=94.0%, specificity=92.0% and area under the curve=0.94), which was confirmed in the validation set. Furthermore, its diagnostic yield was not reduced even in early-stage pancreatic malignancies (sensitivity=85.0%, specificity=93.0% and area under the curve=0.88).

Conclusion: We developed a blood-based gene expression scoring system for cancer screening in patients with BD-IPMNs.

Keywords: IPMN-derived carcinoma; Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms; biomarker; microarray; pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / blood*
  • Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / genetics
  • Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / pathology
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / blood
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / blood*
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / genetics
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / pathology
  • Carcinoma, Papillary / blood*
  • Carcinoma, Papillary / genetics
  • Carcinoma, Papillary / pathology
  • Disease Progression
  • Early Detection of Cancer
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / genetics
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Neoplasm Proteins / blood*
  • Neoplasm Proteins / genetics

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Neoplasm Proteins