[Testosterone-dihydrotestosterone ratio in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic disease]

Serum testosterone (T), dihydrotestosterone (DT) and androstendione (AD) concentration were determined in male patients with pancreatic cancer (n = 14), chronic pancreatitis (n = 26), other malignancies of the gastrointestinal tract (n = 19) and in control subjects (n = 16). The T level was decreased in patients with pancreatic cancer relative to other groups of patients but the difference was not statistically significant. The T/DT ratio was significantly lower in pancreatic cancer (2.5 +/- 1.0) compared to chronic pancreatitis (9.6 +/- 2.3, p 0.01). The specificity of the ratio is 84%, while the sensitivity was found to be 92%. The discriminative value was found to be 4. The T/DT ratio seems to be a valuable marker in the differentiation of pancreatic cancer from chronic pancreatitis.