Affiliations: [a] 4th Department of Internal Medicine, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic | [b] Institute of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics, First Faculty of Medicine Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic | [c] 3rd Department of Internal Medicine, First Faculty of Medicine Charles University and General University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Marek Vecka, 4th Department of Internal Medicine, General University Hospital in Prague, U Nemocnice 2, Prague 12801, Czech Republic. Tel.: +420 224 964 300; E-mail:marek.vecka@lf1.cuni.cz
Abstract: INTRODUCTION: We analyzed concentrations of osteopontin
(OPN) in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in order to
determine firstly whether it is useful to distinguish between PDAC patients
and those with chronic non-hereditary pancreatitis (CP) and type 2 diabetes
mellitus (T2DM), and secondly whether OPN concentrations depend on the PDAC
stage. METHODS: Groups consisting of 64 patients with PDAC, 71 with CP, 67
with T2DM and 48 healthy controls (CON) were enrolled in the study. Controls
were compared with regard to levels of OPN, oxidative stress markers,
conventional tumor markers and other biochemical parameters. RESULTS: Levels of OPN were higher in patients with PDAC compared
with CP patients (P< 0.001), T2DM (P< 0.001) and CON (P< 0.001). There
were increased OPN levels in CP patients in comparison with T2DM (P< 0.001)
and CON (P< 0.001). Patients with PDAC in stage IV had higher OPN levels
than PDAC patients in stage III (P< 0.01). There was no difference in OPN
levels of PDAC patients in stage III compared to patients in stage II. CONCLUSION: Our pilot study demonstrates the usefulness of
estimating OPN levels to differentiate between pancreatic cancer and chronic
pancreatitis. Higher OPN levels over 102 ng/ml could be a potential
diagnostic biomarker for pancreatic cancer.
