Determination of tumor markers in pure pancreatic juice for diagnosing pancreatic diseases

Objective Tumor markers, CEA, CA50, CA19 9 in pure pancreatic juice(PPJ) were determined in this study to clarify their diagnostic values for pancreatic disorders.Methods Through ERCP catheter a certain amount of PPJ was drawn from patients with pancreatic duct abnormality(n=45) and without pancreatic disorder(n=20).CEA, CA50 and CA19 9 in both serum and PPJ were tested with radioimmunoassay.Results The cutoff level of CEA, CA50 and CA19 9 in PPJ remained at 45μg/L, 35kU/L and 5000kU/L respectively.In patient with pancreatic cancer,the sensitivity of CEA in PPJ showed significance( P 0.05) when compared with that in serum,while the specificity and accuracy of CEA, CA50 and CA19 9 were insignificant( P 0.05).The false positive rate of CEA,CA50 and CA19 9 in PPJ from nonpancreatic subjects appeared 0%,5% and 5% correspondingly,the false positivity of those in PPJ from those with chronic pancreatitis were 10%,0% and 20% accordingly.Taking two of the three tumor markers above cutoff level at same time as positivity standard,the sensitivity and specificity of the markers in diagnosing pancreatic cancer rose to 45.8% and 100% respectively.Conclusion Simultaneous assay of the three markers plays an essential and compensatory role,beneficial to differentiate pancreatic malignancy from the benign.