title: Serum EpCAM expression in pancreatic cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aim of the study was to assess the diagnostic and prognostic impact of serum EpCAM levels in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC).
  
  
  METHODS
  For quantitative measurement of preoperative serum EpCAM levels, a sandwich enzyme immunoassay kit was used (ELISA). Sixty-six patients with PDAC were included in the study and for comparison 43 patients with chronic pancreatitis and 104 healthy blood donors without any clinical evidence of cancer were analyzed as well.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum EpCAM levels differed significantly between the groups. The average value for patients with PDAC was 0.240±0.833 ng/ml, in patients with CP 0.192±0.590 ng/ml and 0.626±1.164 ng/ml in normal blood donor sera. With a cut-off level of 0.422 ng/ml EpCAM, the calculated sensitivity of detecting PDAC was 66.7% with corresponding specificity of 77.5%. A correlation with clinico-pathological data (pT, pN, M, R-status, grading, UICC stage) was not found and in addition there was no difference in overall survival between patients with high- and low-preoperative serum EpCAM levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EpCAM can be detected in the serum in patients with PDAC though the sensitivity for detecting PDAC is low and a correlation with clinical parameters was not found.
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany Institute of Anatomy and Experimental Morphology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany University Cancer Center, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany fgebauer@uke.uni-hamburg.de.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gebauer
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Lea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Struck
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tachezy
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Yogesh
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Vashist
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy and Experimental Morphology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany University Cancer Center, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wicklein
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy and Experimental Morphology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany University Cancer Center, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schumacher
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jakob R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Izbicki
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Maximilian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bockhorn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D021441:Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000097:blood*; D000071858:Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D011379:Prognosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D000071858:Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule
keywords: EpCAM; diagnosis; pancreatic cancer; prognosis