OBJECTIVE

DJ-1 is an oncoprotein secreted by cancer cells. Therefore, it might be a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker for pancreatic cancer (PC).

METHODS

The study involved 47 patients with PC, 43 with chronic pancreatitis, and 40 healthy subjects. We assayed the serum level of DJ-1 and the conventional tumor marker carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) to define the diagnostic and prognostic value of DJ-1 for PC.

RESULTS

Serum DJ-1 level was elevated in patients with PC compared with those with chronic pancreatitis and healthy individuals. The area under the curve (AUC) of serum DJ-1 was higher than CA 19-9 (DJ-1 vs. CA19-9, 0.8735 ± 0.0356 vs. 0.6647 ± 0.0572 ng/mL), and an 87.5% sensitivity was reached with a combination of serum DJ-1 and CA19-9. No association of serum DJ-1 level with tumor node metastasis (TNM) classification or tumor resectability was found. However, after resection, the median serum DJ-1 level was decreased from 2.00 to 0.78 ng/mL. In addition, higher serum DJ-1 was correlated with shorter overall survival as analyzed by both Kaplan-Meier test (P = 0.018) and COX regression analysis (P = 0.013). The median overall survival time of PC patients with serum DJ-1 level greater than or equal to 2.06 ng/mL was 7.00 ± 1.11 months, whereas that of patients with lower DJ-1 levels was 13.0 ± 2.5 months.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate the potential clinical significance for serum DJ-1 level to be used for the diagnosis and prognosis prediction of patients with PC.