PILOT STUDY FOR BIOMARKER CHARACTERIZATION OF A SAMPLE POPULATION OF ROMANIAN CANCER PATIENTS

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive cancers, with a very high mortality rate. Currently several biomarkers are used for early detection of pancreatic cancer and can be a guide for surgical decisions. The most commonly used are carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). We used several detection techniques: ELISA and electrochemical analysis by serum stochastic sensors, respectively whole blood and immunohistochemical determinations of CA 19-9 from tumor tissue to describe a sample of pancreatic cancer patients. We analysed biological samples from 34 patients: 23 patients with stage IV, 7 patients with stage III and for 4 patients with stage 4. Our results are consisted with the ones reported in literature, thus we can use our population samples in further studies that will develop a rapid molecular diagnosis technique with increased sensibility, reliable, reproducible and at a low-cost. This could be used as a screening test for the individuals with a high-risk of developing pancreatic cancer. To increase survival in this type of cancer, an early detection and personalized treatment is needed.