Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 24, 2026
Using Nanoplasmon-Enhanced Scattering and Low-Magnification Microscope Imaging to Quantify Tumor-Derived Exosomes
Published on: May 24, 2019
Serum EpCAM expression in pancreatic cancer
Florian Gebauer1, Lea Struck2, Michael Tachezy2
1Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany Institute of Anatomy and Experimental Morphology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany University Cancer Center, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany fgebauer@uke.uni-hamburg.de.
Background:
Aim of the study was to assess the diagnostic and prognostic impact of serum EpCAM levels in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC).
Materials And Methods:
For quantitative measurement of preoperative serum EpCAM levels, a sandwich enzyme immunoassay kit was used (ELISA). Sixty-six patients with PDAC were included in the study and for comparison 43 patients with chronic pancreatitis and 104 healthy blood donors without any clinical evidence of cancer were analyzed as well.
Results:
Serum EpCAM levels differed significantly between the groups. The average value for patients with PDAC was 0.240±0.833 ng/ml, in patients with CP 0.192±0.590 ng/ml and 0.626±1.164 ng/ml in normal blood donor sera. With a cut-off level of 0.422 ng/ml EpCAM, the calculated sensitivity of detecting PDAC was 66.7% with corresponding specificity of 77.5%. A correlation with clinico-pathological data (pT, pN, M, R-status, grading, UICC stage) was not found and in addition there was no difference in overall survival between patients with high- and low-preoperative serum EpCAM levels.
Conclusion:
EpCAM can be detected in the serum in patients with PDAC though the sensitivity for detecting PDAC is low and a correlation with clinical parameters was not found.
