Pancreatic Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Pancreatic Cancer, including details on symptoms, causes, treatment, information.

Molecular markers of early pancreatic cancer.

Goggins M

The Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Department of Pathology, 720 Rutland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21205-2196, USA. mgoggins@jhmi.edu

Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease and the fourth most common cause of cancer death in the United States. Since chemotherapy and radiotherapy have thus far largely failed to significantly improve the survival of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, there is considerable interest in identifying better diagnostic markers of pancreatic neoplasia. Not only could better markers improve the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and allow more patients to undergo curative surgical resection, but also could potentially be used for patients at high risk of developing pancreatic cancer to identify precancerous lesions while they are amenable to cure. A wealth of information has recently become available about gene expression, DNA methylation, and proteomics alterations that occur in pancreatic cancers creating hope that better diagnostic markers of pancreatic cancer will be soon forthcoming.

Published 8 July 2005 in J Clin Oncol, 23(20): 4524-31.
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