Pancreatic cancer marker predicts outcome

PHILADELPHIA, June 26 (UPI) -- A protein can predict how well a patient with advanced pancreatic cancer will do after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, says a U.S. study.

Dr. Adam Berger, of Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, in Philadelphia, found further evidence supporting the ability of protein CA 19-9 to predict how well a patient with advanced pancreatic cancer will do after therapy.

The researchers examined CA 19-9 levels and the survival of 385 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who were treated with surgery and subsequent chemotherapy and radiation.

They found that those patients whose post-operative CA 19-9 level exceeded 180 U/ml did much worse than those with lower levels. After three years, about 30 percent of those with levels 180 or under were still alive, while virtually none of the patients with levels above 180 remained alive, said Berger.

Berger presented the findings at the semi-annual meeting of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group in Philadelphia.