Combining sCD163 with CA 19-9 Increases the Predictiveness of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Simple Summary During the last decades, the CA 19-9 blood test has been the only widely used biomarker in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Given the poor prognosis and staggering mortality rates of this type of cancer, partly due to late diagnosis, new and easily available biomarkers are in high demand. Using a large cohort of patients with PDAC, we found that a combination of CA 19-9 and sCD163 blood tests was a superior diagnostic marker compared to the recommended CA 19-9 test alone. Our findings suggest that sCD163 could have clinical value as a novel, minimally invasive, and cost-effective diagnostic marker. However, because this is the first study examining sCD163 in patients with PDAC, further studies are needed to validate our findings. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic potential of soluble CD163 (sCD163) in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Preoperative serum samples from 255 patients with PDAC were analyzed for sCD163 using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The diagnostic value of sCD163 was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The prognostic significance of sCD163 was evaluated by Cox regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival curves. sCD163 was significantly increased in patients with PDAC, across all stages, compared to healthy subjects (stage 1: p value = 0.033; stage 2-4: p value <= 0.0001). ROC curves showed that sCD163 combined with CA 19-9 had the highest diagnostic potential compared to sCD163 and CA 19-9 alone both in patients with local PDAC and patients with advanced PDAC. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed no association between sCD163 and overall survival. This study found elevated levels of circulating sCD163 in patients with PDAC, regardless of stage, compared to healthy subjects. This suggests that sCD163 may have a clinical value as a novel diagnostic biomarker in PDAC.