Application Of Mucins' Protein Chip In Diagnosis Of Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the most common seen malignant tumor that has very low 1-year survival rate, mostly due to the difficulty of early diagnosis, the examining of tumor marker provide a new approach to the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Until recently it has not been discovered that mucins' family have close relationship with pancreatic cancer. So far, there is no report about the correlation between the serum levels of mucins and pancreatic cancer.Objective: Establish mucins' protein chip and test the serum levels of mucinl, mucin2 and micin5ac in pancreatic cancer patients. Investigate the expression ofmucins' protein in pancreatic cancer and evaluate the preliminary application of the mucins' protein chip in diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.Methods: Mucins' protein chip was established and applied to measure the serum levels of MUC1, MUC2 and MUC5AC in 30 pancreatic cancer patients and 30 healthy adults as control, using the method of Enhanced Chemiluminance(ECL).Results: The serum mucins' and CEA levels of pancreatic cancer patients were significantly higher than that of the healthy ones (MUC1 5.68 1.84 vs. 4.42 0.75, P<0.01; MUC2 3.70 2.0 vs. 2.67 0.30, P<0.01; MUC5AC 4.21 3.19 vs. 2.77 0.37 P<0.05; CEA 7.18 1.98 vs. 5.89 1.89, p<0.05). The positive rate was 66.67%(20/30), 80%(24/30), 66.67%(20/30) and 76.67%(20/30) respectively, while the detection specificity was 83.33% (25/30), 90% (27/30), 80%(24/30) and 50%(15/30) respectively. The positive rate of at least one in MUC1 and MUC2 was 86.67% (26/30), while the detection specificity was 76.67%(23/30). The positive rate of at least one in MUC1 and MUC5AC was 93.33% (28/30),6while the detection specificity was 63.33% (19/30). The positive rate of at least one in MUC2 and MUC5AC was 93.33% (28/30), while the detection specificity was 70% (21/30).The positive rate of at least 2 in 3 mucins was 80%, while the detection specificity was 96.67%.Conclusion: Serum levels of MUC1, MUC2, MUC5AC and CEA in patients with pancreatic cancer were higher than in healthy adults. MUC2 is closely correlated with pancreatic cancer. Some patients with pancreatic cancer have higher serum level of MUC1, while others have higher serum level of MUC5AC. Associated examination of serum levels of MUC1, MUC2 and MUC5AC can raise the sensibility and specificity in diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Compared with CEA and CA19-9, mucins' protein appeared to be more sensitive markers in pancreatic cancer and application of mucins' protein chip provides a new method in the diagnosis of the disease.