Hiding in plain sight

A common biomarker of pancreatic disease has a functional role in pathogenesis Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest human malignancies. This is in part due to the lack of a reliable method of early detection, because late-stage disease is largely refractory to treatment. Biomarkers for ear...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2019-06, Vol.364 (6446), p.1132-1133
Main Authors: Halbrook, Christopher J, Crawford, Howard C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Antigens
Biomarkers
CA-19-9 Antigen
Cancer
Carbohydrates
Disease detection
Glycan
Health risks
Medical treatment
Mice
Pancreas
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic Neoplasms
Pancreatitis
Risk analysis
Risk factors
Tumors
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Summary:A common biomarker of pancreatic disease has a functional role in pathogenesis Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest human malignancies. This is in part due to the lack of a reliable method of early detection, because late-stage disease is largely refractory to treatment. Biomarkers for early disease detection have remained elusive. However, the glycan carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), which is produced by pancreatic cancer cells, is increased in the serum of most patients ( 1 ). It is clinically useful as a biomarker of tumor burden during treatment, rather than for early detection, because serum CA19-9 is also increased in other diseases, including inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), a risk factor for the development of pancreatic cancer. To date, there has been little understanding of CA19-9 function in pancreatic pathophysiology. On page 1156 of this issue, Engle et al. ( 2 ) report that CA19-9 drives the development of pancreatitis and accelerates pancreatic tumor progression.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aax9341