Certain microRNAs: Pancreatic Cancer Markers
May 7, 2007 by Gloria Gamat
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in both men and women. This type of cancer is so fatal because it is difficult to diagnose early and there are only few treatment advances.
Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center have found new pancreatic cancer markers in tiny molecules called microRNA (miRNA) whose relative levels can distinguish pancreatic cancer from nearby noncancerous tissue and from inflamed pancreatic tissue.
According to first author Mark Bloomston, assistant professor of surgery at Ohio State’s James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute:
“Our findings suggest that miRNAs might help detect the disease earlier and differentiate it from noncancerous conditions. We also found that we could predict which patients would do better or worse based on a just a few miRNAs. Such correlations with survival have previously been lacking in pancreatic cancer.”
Research findings are published in the May 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Find more details from the full report.
