Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal forms of cancer, primarily because it is usually diagnosed very late. Current markers are too insensitive and unspecific for early detection screenings. In the journal Angewandte Chemie , a research team has now introduced a new method that could lead to a significantly more precise and reliable diagnosis.
It is based on the selective detection of specific antibodies in blood samples. Tumors produce certain proteins (tumor-associated antigens) that draw the attention of our constantly "patrolling" immune system and trigger an immune response. As a consequence, antibodies directed against the tumors (tumor-associated autoantibodies) are formed, circulating in the blood at very early stages of the disease-;which makes them useful for early detection.
An international team led by Roberto Fiammengo and Giovanni Malerba at the University of Verona (Italy) as well as Alfredo Martínez at the Center for Biomedical Research of La Rioja (Logroño, Spain) and Francisco Corzana at the Universidad de La Rioja , has now developed an approach to diagnostic testing for pancreatic cancer that is based on the detection of such special tumor-associated autoantibodies. They chose to use autoantibodies directed against the tumor-associated form of mucin-1 (TA-MUC1). Mucin-1 is a heavily glycosylated protein (a protein with sugar components) that occurs, for example, in glandular tissue.
In many types of tumors, including pancreatic cancer, it is foun.