Emerging role of non-invasive and liquid biopsy biomarkers in pancreatic cancer

Abstract

A global increase in the incidence of pancreatic cancer (PanCa) presents a major concern and health burden. The traditional tissue-based diagnostic techniques provided a major way forward for molecular diagnostics; however, they face limitations based on diagnosis-associated difficulties and concerns surrounding tissue availability in the clinical setting. Late disease development with asymptomatic behavior is a drawback in the case of existing diagnostic procedures. The capability of cell free markers in discriminating PanCa from autoimmune pancreatitis and chronic pancreatitis along with other precancerous lesions can be a boon to clinicians. Early-stage diagnosis of PanCa can be achieved only if these biomarkers specifically discriminate the non-carcinogenic disease stage from malignancy with respect to tumor stages. In this review, we comprehensively described the non-invasive disease detection approaches and why these approaches are gaining popularity for their early-stage diagnostic capability and associated clinical feasibility.