Diagnostic biomarkers for pancreatic cancer: An update

Table 1 Clinical trials for pancreatic cancer with representative diagnostic biomarkers

Trial number	Biomarkers	Status	Year to complete	Results/Trial titles
NCT03311776	HA and PRO-C3	Completed	2035	Serum HA and PRO-C3 were prognostic for overall survival in patients with PC[14]
NCT04241367	ctDNA	Recruiting	2025	Verification of predictive biomarkers for pancreatic cancer treatment using multicenter liquid biopsy
NCT04143152	sTRA and CA 19-9	Recruiting	2023	Two biomarker panels with sTRA and CA 19-9 improved sensitivity and accuracy, compared to using only CA19-9[15]
NCT03404661	Methylated DNA markers	Recruiting	2023	Optical and biochemical biomarkers in early pancreatic cancer significance: a prospective study
NCT04584996	CircRNAs	Recruiting	2023	Circular and non-coding RNAs as clinically useful biomarkers in pancreaticobiliary cancers
NCT04636788	Circulating exosomal small RNAs	Recruiting	2022	Diagnostic and prognostic values of EUS-FNA specimens and circulating exosomal small RNA in patients with pancreatic cancer
NCT03536793	Urinary tissue factor and Endo180	Recruiting	2022	Study of uTF and Endo180 as markers of early malignancy in cystic pancreatic lesions
NCT04549064	AREG	Recruiting	2021	Identification of AREG for the detection of pancreatic cancer by the biosensor
NCT03817866	Chromogranin A	Recruiting	2021	To validate the performance of Brahms Chromogranin A II Kryptor assay to monitor the course of disease in patients with well-defined gastroentero-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors
NCT03214991	DNA	Unknown	2021	Circulating tumor DNA as a prognostic marker in patients with pancreatic cancer
NCT01664169	VEGF-A and VEGF-R2	Completed	2018	Validation of circulating biomarkers using the immunological multiparameter chip technology (IMPACT) platform on plasma specimens collected on CALGB 80303
NCT02974764	Circulating tumor cells	Completed	2018	Alterations in circulating tumor cells predicted the progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, treatment response, and clinical outcomes[16]
NCT00674973	AREG, EGF, sHER2, TGF-α	Completed	2015	Exploratory analyses suggested that high AREG might predict progression-free survival in patients with pancreatic cancer treated with erlotinib[17]
NCT01675258	Four messenger RNA biomarkers (KRAS, MBD3L2, ACRV1, and DPM1) in salivary samples	Completed	2013	The logistic regression model using four biomarkers yielded an area under the curve value of 0.971 (cutoff 0.433) to detect resectable pancreatic cancer with 90.0% sensitivity and 95.0% specificity[18]
NCT00899158	Caspase-3 and pAkt in muscle, and urinary 3-MH	Completed	2008	Role of caspase-3, phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase, and 3-methylhistidine in the pathophysiology of skeletal muscle loss in weight-losing pancreas cancer patients

ACRV1: Acrosomal vesicle protein 1; AREG: Amphiregulin; DPM1: Dolichyl-phosphate mannosyltransferase subunit 1; EGF: Epidermal growth factor; circRNAs: Circular RNAs; ctDNA: Circulating tumor DNA; HA: Hyaluronan; MBD3L2: Methyl-CpG binding domain protein 3 like 2; pAkt: Phosphorylated Akt; PRO-C3: Propeptide of type III collagen; sHER2: Soluble human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; sTRA: Sialylated tumor-related antigen; TGF-α: Transforming growth factor-alpha; 3-MH: 3-methylhistidine.