CAM 17.1 - A new diagnostic marker in pancreatic cancer

Abstract

CAM 17.1-Ab is a recently described monoclonal antibody that detects a mucus glycoprotein with high specificity for intestinal mucus, particularly in the colon, small intestine, biliary tract and pancreas. We investigated the expression and release of CAM 17.1 in pancreatic carcinoma cell lines and tissue specimens of normal pancreas, chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. CAM 17.1 was weakly expressed on normal ductal cells and chronic pancreatitis, whereas it was overexpressed in pancreatic cancer. Serum analysis using a new enzyme-linked antibody sandwich assay (CAM 17.1/WGA) of patients with chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer or other gastrointestinal cancer and of healthy blood donors revealed a high sensitivity (67%) and excellent specificity (90%) of CAM 17.1/WGA assay in pancreatic cancer. In comparison with the tumour marker CA19-9, the sensitivity of the CAM 17.1/WGA assay was similar to the sensitivity of CA 19-9 (67% and 76%, P = 0.22), whereas the specificity of CAM 17.1/WGA assay was higher than in CA 19-9 (90% compared with 78% in chronic pancreatitis, P > 0.05). Images Figure 2

Tissue polypeptide specific antigen (TPS), a marker for differentiation between pancreatic carcinoma and chronic pancreatitis

“…CAM 17‐1 shows a sensitivity similar to that of CA 19‐9 but with higher specificity. Thus, in patients with chronic pancreatitis, only 10% had elevated levels of this marker 11…”

“…However, the sensitivity and specificity of these markers appeared to be insufficient for the differentiation of pancreatic carcinoma and chronic pancreatitis. Recently, a new marker, CAM17‐1, with a high specificity for intestinal mucus, particularly in the colon, small intestine, biliary tract, and pancreas, has been described 11, 12. CAM 17‐1 shows a sensitivity similar to that of CA 19‐9 but with higher specificity.…”

Serum biomarkers for improved diagnostic of pancreatic cancer: a current overview

“…Nevertheless, there are 11 recent studies on CEA which can be detected at low levels in fetal and normal adult tissue while high serum levels indicate presence of pancreatic cancer. The main problem of this biomarker is its low sensitivity of 25-56% at a high specificity of 82-100% for discriminating carcinoma from controls (Duraker et al 2007;Ehmann et al 2007;Gansauge et al 1996;Groblewska et al 2007;Liao et al 2009;Mroczko et al 2009;Ni et al 2005;Pasanen et al 1994;Zhao and Zhang 2008) (Table 1B). The best performance was reported by Ehmann et al (2007) on 96 carcinomas and 96 controls with 56% sensitivity and 82% specificity.…”

Pancreatic Cancer Screening

“…Recent studies have identified other potential biomarkers for pancreatic cancer, including CA494, 85 carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1), 86 parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), 87 tumor M2-pyruvate kinase (TuM2-PK), 88 anti-mucin antibody CAM 17.1, 78 and serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG). 89 Although their performance characteristics in initial studies are promising, larger studies are needed to confirm their clinical applicability and they are currently used only in research settings.…”