title: Evaluation of uric acid as a prognostic blood-based marker in a large cohort of pancreatic cancer patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recently, chemical blood parameters gain more attraction as potential prognostic parameters in pancreatic cancer (PC). In the present study we investigated the prognostic relevance of the uric acid (UA) level in blood plasma at the time of diagnosis for overall survival (OS) in a large cohort of patients with PC.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 466 consecutive patients with ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas were evaluated retrospectively. Overall survival (OS) was analysed using the Kaplan-Meier method. To further evaluate the prognostic significance of the UA level, univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  None of the clinicopathological parameters (tumour grade, clinical stage, age, CA19-9 level, Karnofski Index (KI) or surgical resection) except gender was associated with UA level. In univariate analysis we observed the elevated UA level (<5.1 versus ≥5.1 mg/dl, p = 0.017) as poor prognostic factor for OS. In the multivariate analysis that included age, gender, tumour grade, tumour stage, surgical resection, CA19-9 level, the KI and UA level we confirmed the UA level as independent prognostic factor for OS (HR = 1.373%; CI = 1.077-1.751; p = 0.011).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, we identified the UA level at time of diagnosis as an independent prognostic factor in PC patients. Our results indicate that the UA level might represent a novel and useful marker for patient stratification in PC management.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria; Research Unit Genetic Epidemiology and Pharmacogenetics, Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stotz
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria; Research Unit Genetic Epidemiology and Pharmacogenetics, Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Szkandera
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seidel
authors.affiliation: Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stojakovic
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Hellmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Samonigg
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reitz
authors.affiliation: Division of Angiology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gary
authors.affiliation: Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kornprat
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Renate
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schaberl-Moser
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hoefler
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria; Research Unit Genetic Epidemiology and Pharmacogenetics, Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gerger
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria; Department of Experimental Therapeutics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pichler
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D021441:Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D014527:Uric Acid