Clinical Applications of Classical and Novel Biological Markers of Pancreatic Cancer

Simple Summary Pancreatic cancer is one of the most heterogeneous and aggressive tumours that exist. The median survival of diagnosed patients is limited. For all these reasons, it is necessary to develop new disease markers that allow guidelines for clinical action to improve the average survival of patients with pancreatic cancer. The incidence and prevalence of pancreatic adenocarcinoma have increased in recent years. Pancreatic cancer is the seventh leading cause of cancer death, but it is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality by 2040. Most patients are diagnosed in an advanced stage of the disease, with very limited 5-year survival. The discovery of different tissue markers has elucidated the underlying pathophysiology of pancreatic adenocarcinoma and allowed stratification of patient risk at different stages and assessment of tumour recurrence. Due to the invasive capacity of this tumour and the absence of screening markers, new immunohistochemical and serological markers may be used as prognostic markers for recurrence and in the study of possible new therapeutic targets because the survival of these patients is low in most cases. The present article reviews the currently used main histopathological and serological markers and discusses the main characteristics of markers under development.

Automated summary

Pancreatic cancer is a highly heterogeneous and aggressive tumor with limited median survival. Developing new disease markers is necessary to improve the average survival of patients. The incidence and prevalence of pancreatic adenocarcinoma have increased in recent years, making it the seventh leading cause of cancer death. Most patients are diagnosed in advanced stages with low 5-year survival. Different tissue markers have provided insight into the underlying pathophysiology and risk stratification of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. New immunohistochemical and serological markers may serve as prognostic markers for recurrence and potential therapeutic targets.