title: [Monoclonal antibody SPan-1 in the diagnosis of exocrine pancreatic adenocarcinoma].
abstract: The great progress made in imaging techniques over the past few years has not resulted in an improvement in terms of earlier diagnosis of exocrine pancreatic cancer. The search for a non-invasive diagnostic tool, capable of yielding an early diagnosis, has led to the development of a series of serum tumour markers. This article discusses the clinical evaluation of SPan-1 and its comparison with established markers such as CA 19.9, CEA, TPA and CA 242. The markers were tested in preoperative serum samples collected from 46 patients operated on for ductal carcinoma of the pancreas, 20 patients with chronic pancreatitis and 23 patients with other digestive neoplasms. Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy for pancreatic cancer were as follows: [table: see text] The antigenic determinant recognised by monoclonal antibody SPan-1 is high in sera of patients with exocrine pancreatic cancer. SPan-1 may be another useful, reliable serum marker in detecting this neoplasm, but this study indicates that SPan-1 does not greatly improve the diagnostic accuracy achieved with CA19.9.
authors.affiliation: Divisione di Chirurgia Generale 2, Ospedale Regionale di Bolzano.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frena
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazziotti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: La Guardia
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood*; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C059729:pancreatic associated antigen, SPan-1