Tumour marker in pancreatic carcinoma

Despite the improved sensitivity of new radiological techniques to detect pancreatic cancer during the last two decades, Warshaw and colleagues [6] have underlined the fact that pre-operative imaging (CT, MRI and Angiography) has a sensitivity of only 78%. As a result, diagnosis is delayed and survival rates ranging from 1% to 5% have remained unchanged, even in resected cases, over the last three decades. There has, therefore, been a renewed interest in the role of serological markers as a diagnostic test for pancreatic tumours, because a number of mucin-associated carbohydrate antigens and enzymes are elevated in the sera of pancreatic cancer patients. (Argani et al., 2001)