title: Epigenetic alterations as biomarkers in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
abstract: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) prognosis remains very poor and has only marginally improved during the last decades. Epigenetic alterations have been the focus of many recent studies and offer valuable options for PDAC detection, prognosis and treatment. DNA methylation, histone modifications and microRNA (miR) level changes can be used as biomarkers. These alterations occur early in carcinogenesis and may be specific for PDAC. Additionally, epigenetic alterations can be analyzed from cell-free DNA, free-circulating nucleosomes or shed tumor cells in blood. High-throughput methods are available for miR and DNA methylation level detection. In particular, multiple promising miR level changes have been discovered. No single epigenetic biomarker that offers a sufficient specificity has been discovered yet, but patterns containing multiple independent biomarkers exist.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Surgery , Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University and Skåne University Hospital , Lund , Sweden.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Syren
authors.affiliation: a Department of Surgery , Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University and Skåne University Hospital , Lund , Sweden.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.affiliation: a Department of Surgery , Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University and Skåne University Hospital , Lund , Sweden.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bauden
authors.affiliation: a Department of Surgery , Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University and Skåne University Hospital , Lund , Sweden.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ansari
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics; D021441:Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D042421:Histone Code; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: DNA methylation; Pancreatic cancer; biomarkers; diagnosis; epigenetics; histone modifications; microRNA