title: Serum APRIL, a potential tumor marker in pancreatic cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) is a newly-found member in the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily. Our previous studies have already confirmed that APRIL is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer tumors, however, it is not expressed or has a weak expression in normal pancreatic gland tissues. Furthermore, there is no report on serum APRIL in patients with pancreatic diseases. Herein, in order to explore the clinical implication of serum APRIL in patients with pancreatic cancer, serum APRIL, together with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen (CA)19-9, was examined.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum APRIL was tested by ELISA in patients with pancreatic cancer. Meanwhile, two other conventional serum tumor markers, CEA and CA19-9, were measured by Elecsys 2010 Chemistry Analyzer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum APRIL increased in patients with pancreatic cancer, which proved a positive correlation with CEA and CA19-9. When the diagnosis of benign or malignant condition was examined by one tumor marker, the sensitivity of APRIL alone (70.1%) was greater than that of CEA alone (56.7%), and the specificity of APRIL alone (85.5%) was higher than that of CA19-9 alone (83.6%). When examined by a combination of two markers, the sensitivity of the combination of APRIL and CA19-9 was the highest (88.1%), as it was compared with that of APRIL alone, CEA alone and APRIL+CEA, p<0.05. In addition, serum APRIL also correlated with the tumor stage and postoperative survival in patients with pancreatic cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that serum APRIL, as a potential biomarker, has a positive diagnosis and prognosis value for pancreatic cancer. Moreover, the combination assay of APRIL and CA19-9 is highly sensitive to pancreatic cancer.
authors: Department of Clinical Laboratory Center, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, School of Public Health, Nantong University, Jiangsu, PR China.
authors: Feng
authors: F
authors: Wang
authors: Lin
authors: L
authors: Chen
authors: Weifeng
authors: W
authors: Ding
authors: Guihua
authors: G
authors: Wang
authors: Yueping
authors: Y
authors: Wu
authors: Jingchun
authors: J
authors: Wang
authors: Leilei
authors: L
authors: Luo
authors: Hui
authors: H
authors: Cong
authors: Yueguo
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Shaoqing
authors: S
authors: Ju
authors: Jianguo
authors: J
authors: Shao
authors: Huimin
authors: H
authors: Wang