Skip to main content

AACR: Exosome-Based miRNA Assay Can Detect Pancreatic Cancer

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on April 9, 2024.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 8, 2024 -- An exosome-based liquid biopsy assay can distinguish patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) from healthy donors (HDs), according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, held from April 5 to 10 in San Diego.

Caiming Xu, M.D., Ph.D., from the Beckman Research Institute of The City of Hope in Monrovia, California, and colleagues performed a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based assay using the plasma biospecimen from four prospective cohorts. The performance of the microRNA (miRNA) signature was also examined in conjunction with plasma CA19-9 for detecting early-stage PDAC.

The researchers found that two distinct panels of cell-free-miRNAs and exosomal-miRNAs robustly distinguished patients with PDAC from HDs in the training cohort from Japan. The signature resulting from combining these panels exhibited a notable ability to distinguish PDAC from HD with substantial accuracy in the training cohort (area under the curve [AUC], 0.98). This signature was successfully validated and evaluated in three independent cohorts from the United States, Korea, and China (AUCs, 0.93, 0.91, and 0.88, respectively). When the signature was combined with CA19-9 in the U.S. cohort, the overall diagnostic performance of this liquid biopsy assay significantly improved early detection of PDAC (AUC, 0.97; sensitivity and specificity, 0.95 and 0.96, respectively).

"We have established an exosome-based signature that combines exosomal microRNAs and cell-free DNA to robustly identify patients with early-stage pancreatic cancer," Xu said in a statement.

Press Release

More Information

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

ACG: 2000 to 2022 Saw Rise in Early-Onset CRC Mortality in the United States

THURSDAY, Oct. 31, 2024 -- Early-onset colorectal cancer (EO-CRC) mortality rose in the United States over the past two decades, most notably in patients aged 20 to 44 years...

Cell-Free Blood DNA Tests Less Effective Than Other CRC Screening

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 30, 2024 -- Cell-free DNA blood tests (cf-bDNA) may be more costly and less effective for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening than other screening modalities...

American College of Surgeons, Oct. 19-22

The annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons was held this year from Oct. 19 to 22 in San Francisco and attracted participants from around the world, including...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.