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Review
. 2021 Jun 3;22(5-6):347-356.
doi: 10.1080/15384047.2021.1941584. Epub 2021 Jul 5.

Biomarkers for early detection of pancreatic cancer - miRNAs as a potential diagnostic and therapeutic tool?

Aleksandra Tarasiuk  1 , Tomasz Mackiewicz  1 , Ewa Małecka-Panas  2 , Jakub Fichna  1
Affiliations
Review

Biomarkers for early detection of pancreatic cancer - miRNAs as a potential diagnostic and therapeutic tool?

Aleksandra Tarasiuk et al. Cancer Biol Ther. .

Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest malignancies, with poor prognosis resulting mostly from late diagnosis. Surgery remains the most effective treatment and early detection significantly increases the overall survival. Biomarkers used for diagnosis and to monitor the response to treatment, such as carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), are not adequate as early detection markers of PDAC, partly due to low sensitivity/specificity. Therefore, new biomarkers for PDAC are critically needed. This review aims at recent advancements in the identification and characterization of new biomarkers, microRNAs, which might prove useful in the early detection of PDAC.

Keywords: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; biomarkers; early detection; miRNA.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Steps to miRNA profiling
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Important considerations necessary in profiling and analyzing circulating miRNAs to find validated cancer biomarkers
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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