Palladin Could Provide Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Tumor

Palladin, a molecular marker of pancreatic cancer, might help clinicians recognize the disease at its earliest stages, when it can be treated more successfully with surgery.

Scientists demonstrated that the protein palladin is produced in large amounts in the tumor nest, the cells that surround a pancreatic tumor. By measuring the levels of this protein in patient samples, doctors would have an improved way to screen for the deadly cancer.

The protein plays an important role in cell motility, adhesion, and structure. It is mutated in an inherited form of pancreas cancer and is also produced in large amounts--upregulated--in a number of sporadic pancreas tumors.

Scientists at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill School of Medicine (NC, USA) identified the mutated form of palladin. Senior author Carol Otey, Ph.D., associate professor of cell and molecular physiology at UNC said that by measuring the levels of this form of palladin in patient samples, doctors could possibly catch it earlier than ever before.

Prof. Hong Jin Kim, associate professor of surgery at UNC, also senior author of the study, noted, "If we can enhance the diagnostic efficiency of these studies by staining for palladin, it would be clinically helpful for interventional gastroenterologists and pathologists."

The study was published on April 26, 2010 in the online journal PLoS One.

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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine