Evaluation of circulating ADH and MIC-1 as diagnostic markers in Egyptian patients with pancreatic cancer

Background Despite the incidence rate of pancreatic cancer (PC) is uncommon in developing countries, it is considered as one of the most lethal disease. Improving patients' survival requires diagnosis of the disease at early stage. Therefore, it is imperative to identify more specific and sensitive marker(s) to be used for early detection of PC. Objectives Our aim is to evaluate the potential role of circulating ADH and MIC-1 to be used as diagnostic markers in Egyptian patients and assess their value either alone or combined with CA19-9 in early detection of PC. Methods Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), macrophage inhibitory cytokine (MIC-1) and CA19-9 were measured by ELISA in serum procured from PC patients (n = 50) versus normal subjects (n = 20). Results Our results demonstrate that the circulating levels of ADH, MIC-1 and CA19-9 in blood of PC were significantly higher than in healthy controls (HCs) (p < 0.001). The highest marker sensitivity observed at early stage was MIC-1 (90%) and specificity was ADH (83%). The level of all three markers was elevated significantly in early stage of PC in comparison to HCs. The addition of ADH and MIC-1 to CA19-9 significantly improved the efficacy of diagnosis (p = 0.023). Conclusion Our data demonstrate that not only the combination of ADH and MIC-1 to CA19-9 can be used in early detection of PC but also can improve the overall quality of diagnosis of this lethal disease.