Open AccessDiagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers in pancreaticobiliary malignancy
Author(s) -
Domenico Viterbo,
Valerie Gausman,
Tamas A. Gonda
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
world journal of gastrointestinal endoscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1948-5190
DOI - 10.4253/wjge.v8.i3.128
Subject(s) - medicine , malignancy , pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma , pancreatic cancer , adenocarcinoma , oncology , cancer , pathology , radiology
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) are two malignancies that carry significant morbidity and mortality. The poor prognoses of these cancers are strongly related to lack of effective screening modalities as well as few therapeutic options. In this review, we highlight novel biomarkers that have the potential to be used as diagnostic, prognostic and predictive markers. The focus of this review is biomarkers that can be evaluated on endoscopically-obtained biopsies or brush specimens in the pre-operative setting. We also provide an overview of novel serum based markers in the early diagnosis of both PDAC and CCA. In pancreatic cancer, the emphasis is placed on prognostic and theranostic markers, whereas in CCA the utility of molecular markers in diagnosis and prognosis are highlighted.