Newly Discovered Marker Detects Early Pancreatic Cancer

A marker in the blood that may indicate early development of the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) could pave the way for an early detection test.

Pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose early as the tumors cannot be felt like they can in some other cancers because the pancreas is so deep inside the body and the disease usually does not cause any symptoms until it has already spread to other organs.


Scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, MA, USA) assessed previously collected blood samples from 1,500 people who were part of large health-monitoring studies. They looked for more than 100 compounds made during the metabolic process, known as metabolites, before dividing the samples into two groups: those that were from participants who later developed pancreatic cancer and those that were from participants who did not develop the disease.

Profiles of endogenous polar metabolites were obtained using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS) which consisted of a 4000 QTRAP triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (AB SCIEX; Framingham, USA) coupled to an 1100 Series pump (Agilent Technologies; Santa Clara, CA, USA) and an HTS PAL autosampler (CTC; Zwingen, Switzerland).

The team found that the participants who went on to develop pancreatic cancer had higher blood levels of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), which are essential nutrients that the body extracts from proteins found in foods, compared with participants who did not develop pancreatic cancer. The elevated plasma levels of BCAAs were associated with a greater than two-fold increased risk of future pancreatic cancer diagnosis. This elevated risk was independent of known predisposing factors, with the strongest association observed among subjects with samples collected two to five years before diagnosis, when occult disease is probably present.

The authors concluded that these increased BCAA levels were found in patients 2 to 25 years before they were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but they note that patients with high levels of these amino acids several years prior to diagnosis were at the highest risk. Matthew G.Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, co-senior author of the study said, “This work has the potential to spur progress in detecting pancreatic tumors earlier and identifying new treatment strategies for those with the disease.” The study was published on September 28, 2014, in the journal Nature Medicine.

Related Links:
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 
AB SCIEX 
Agilent Technologies