Utilising Pancreatic Exocrine Insufficiency in the Detection of Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Overview

Journal Cancers (Basel)

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Oncology

Date 2023 Dec 23

PMID 38136302

Authors

Declan McDonnell

Paul R Afolabi

Sam Wilding

Gareth O Griffiths

Jonathan R Swann

Christopher D Byrne

Zaed Z Hamady

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is usually diagnosed late, leading to a high mortality rate. Early detection facilitates better treatment options. The aim of this UK-based case-control study was to determine whether two validated tests for pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (PEI), namely, the C-mixed triglyceride breath test (C-MTGBT) and a faecal elastase (FE-1) test, can discriminate between patients with resectable PDAC versus healthy volunteers (HVs) along with a comparison group with chronic pancreatitis (CP). Discrimination between disease states and HVs was tested with receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves. In total, 59 participants (23 PDAC (16 men), 24 HVs (13 men) and 12 CP (10 men)) were recruited, with a similar age in each population, and a combined median (IQR) age of 66 (57-71). The areas under the ROC curve for discriminating between PDAC and HVs were 0.83 (95% CI: 0.70-0.96) for the C-MTGBT, and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.75-0.95) for the FE-1 test. These were similar to CP vs. HV. In conclusion, PEI occurs in resectable PDAC to a similar extent as in CP; further large-scale, prospective studies using these tests in the primary care setting on high-risk groups are warranted.

Citing Articles

Nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabolomics and risk of pancreatic cancer: a prospective analysis in the UK Biobank.

Wu Z, Yang J, Ma Z, Chen Y, Han M, Wu Q J Gastroenterol. 2025; .

PMID: 40074913 DOI: 10.1007/s00535-025-02237-9.

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