Detection and Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer

Ctr For Molecular Medicine/Immunology, Belleville NJ

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Abstract

ABSTRACT The objective of this research proposal is the development and evaluation of immunoassays having clinical utility for the "early" detection and diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma. In the year 2008, an estimated 37,000 new cases of pancreatic carcinoma will be diagnosed in the United States. Pancreatic carcinoma is the tenth most common form of cancer in men and women today, yet it is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths. The most common symptoms of the disease, jaundice, abdominal pain, and weight loss, together with other presenting factors are nonspecific in nature. Thus, diagnosing pancreatic carcinoma at an early stage of tumor growth is difficult at best, requiring considerable suspicion and extensive diagnostic work-up, up to and including exploratory surgery. Our laboratory has developed and characterized the PAM4 monoclonal antibody (murine, chimeric and recently humanized versions), providing evidence as to its potential for clinical detection, imaging and therapy of pancreatic carcinoma. Our recent developments employing an in vitro enzyme immunoassay to quantitate PAM4-reactive antigen in the blood of patients, appears quite promising for detection of pancreatic carcinoma and its discrimination from pancreatitis, as well as other cancers and normal individuals. Early detection and diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma, as well as appropriate staging of the disease, would almost certainly provide a survival advantage. With this in mind, we intend to further develop and assess the ability of the PAM4-based immunoassays, both immunohistochemical detection in tissue specimens and enzyme immunoassay to detect and quantitate the antigen in both serum and pancreatic fluids, to provide "early" detection and diagnosis at a time-point when therapeutic intervention may have better opportunity for successful outcome. The specific aims of this project are: 1. To employ immunohistochemistry to examine the specificity of the PAM4-biomarker in tissue specimens;2. To develop and evaluate the specificity and sensitivity of an enzyme immunoassay for detection and quantitation of PAM4-reactive mucin in patient sera;3. To evaluate the PAM4-based immunoassay for retrospective and subsequent prospective studies for "early" detection of pancreatic carcinoma in asymptomatic patients considered at high-risk;4. Examine the clinical value of the PAM4- immunoassays for prognosis and disease management.