Medical Laboratory World: Markers to detect pancreatic cancer

"A pattern of micro molecules able to distinguish pancreatic cancer from normal and benign pancreatic tissue could be a useful diagnostic tool in diagnosing pancreatic cancer in the future, scientists have said.
The study examined human pancreatic tumour tissue and compared it to nearby normal tissue and control tissue for levels of microRNA (miRNA). It identified about 100 different miRNAs that are present usually at very high levels in the tumor tissue compared with their levels in normal pancreatic tissue.
The findings suggest that miRNAs form an expression pattern that may offer new clues about how pancreatic cancer develops, and they could lead to new molecular markers that might improve doctors' ability to diagnose and treat the disease."