Klin Onkol 2016; 29(5): 336-341. DOI: 10.14735/amko2016336.
Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a highly aggressive disease with 5-year overall survival not exceeding 5%. In the Czech Republic, the incidence of this tumor has been increasing; according to recent statistics, the Czech Republic is already number one worldwide in the occurrence of this malignancy. Delayed diagnosis due to asymptomatic course of the disease in the early stages is characteristic for this disease. Aim: The objective of this article is to give an overview of the most important factors, which according to current knowledge of pancreatic adenocarcinoma have a prognostic and predictive potential. This work describes both traditional prognostic factors, such as tumor resectability, its extent and localization, application of adjuvant chemotherapy, microscopically positive resection margin, presence of metastases in lymph nodes, histological grade, vascular and perineural invasion. Further, the paper lists a number of different biological markers that could contribute to early detection of cancer, better prognosis and optimization of treatment, for example hENT1 (human equilibrative nucleoside transporter-1), SPARC (secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine), AGR2, Bcl-2, VEGF, Ki-67, COX-2 and more. Also, genetic mutations and significance of microRNA are discussed. Conclusion: Despite great efforts that have been devoted to the research of biological markers, so far the only clinically accepted and used marker is CA 19-9. Its use is primarily in patients already diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. A lot of attention has recently been focused on other potential biomarkers, their application in clinical practice would however still require further research.
