Dermokine expression in intraductal papillary-mucinous neoplasm and invasive pancreatic carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Serum dermokine (DK) is a novel biomarker for early colorectal cancer. To our knowledge this is the first study of DK expression in intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) and pancreatic cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS DK expression in human pancreatic cancer cell lines and tissues was assessed. We compared the sensitivities of common diagnostic markers, carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), s-pancreas-1 antigen (SPAN-1), pancreatic cancer-associated antigen (DUPAN-2), and Nation Cancer Center-Stomach-439 (NCC-ST-439) in 26 patients with pancreatic neoplasms. RESULTS DK was expressed in pancreatic cancer cell lines. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that DK was expressed in atypical and cancerous tissues, but not in the normal pancreatic tissues. Serum DK was relatively high in patients with IPMN. The sensitivities of a serum multimarker test including DK was 76.5% (n=13/17) for IPMA/IPMC/invasive carcinoma derived from IPMN, and 100% (n=9/9) for ordinary invasive ductal carcinoma. CONCLUSION Serum DK is a potential biomarker in IPMN and invasive ductal carcinoma, when used in combination with conventional biomarkers.