An investigational exosome-based liquid biopsy accurately detected 97% of stage 1-2 pancreatic cancers when combined with the biomarker CA 19-9, according to research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024, held April 5-10.
“Pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal malignancies, in large part because the majority of patients are diagnosed only after the cancer has already metastasized,” said Ajay Goel, Ph.D., senior author of the study and the chair of the Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics at City of Hope.
While the five-year relative survival rate for patients diagnosed at the earliest stages before the cancer has spread from the pancreas is 44.3%, it is only 3.2% for those diagnosed with metastatic disease. “It is of utmost importance to diagnose patients as early as possible so they have the opportunity to receive potentially curative surgery and treatment,” Goel said.
Caiming Xu, MD, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in Goel’s research group, added that early detection of pancreatic cancer remains challenging due to the nonspecific symptoms of the disease and because the pancreas is located deep within the abdomen, where it cannot be easily palpated during physical examination. Furthermore, existing biomarkers, such as CA19-9, are not reliable on their own to detect early-stage pancreatic cancer. Goel, Xu, and colleagues explored the potential of an exosome-based liquid biopsy to detect pancreatic cancer at early stages.
By American Association for Cancer Research
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