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New-onset diabetes mellitus or prediabetes can be the earliest sign of pancreatic cancer, providing an opportunity for early detection.
To explore if biomarkers could detect pancreatic cancer among diabetes patients, researchers in Prague measured levels of three markers (carbohydrate antigen [CA] 19-9, micro RNA-196, and micro RNA-200) in 60 pancreatic cancer patients with diabetes, 34 type 2 diabetes patients without cancer and 30 controls.
The results, presented at a meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes on 15 September 2016[1]
, show all three biomarkers were elevated in pancreatic cancer/diabetes patients compared with diabetes-alone patients and controls. Together, they indicated the presence of pancreatic cancer with a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 77%.
The researchers conclude that testing for CA 19-9, microRNA-196 and microRNA-200 could become the first-line, non-invasive screen for pancreatic cancer in patients with new-onset diabetes.
References
[1] Å krha P, HoÅ™Ãnek A, AndÄ›l M et al. New-onset diabetes as a target for pancreatic cancer screening. Presented at: European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting; 12–16 September 2016; Munich, Germany.
