Pancreatic cancer is the most frequent adenocarcinoma and has the worst prognosis of all cancers, with a five-year survival rate of <3 percent, accounting for the 4th largest number of cancer deaths in the USA (Jemal et al., CA Cancer J Clin., 53: 5-26, 2003). Pancreatic cancer occurs with a frequency of around 9 patients per 100,000 individuals making it the 11th most common cancer in the USA. Currently the only curative treatment for pancreatic cancer is surgery, but only ˜10-20% of patients are candidates for surgery at the time of presentation, and of this group, only ˜20% of patients who undergo a curative operation are alive after five years (Yeo et al., Ann. Surg., 226: 248-257, 1997; Hawes et al., Am. J. Gastroenterol., 95: 17-31, 2000).
The horrible prognosis and lack of effective treatments for pancreatic cancer arise from several causes. There are currently no effective biomarkers useful for early detection of pancreatic cancer or even to differentiate between pancreatic adenocarcinoma and another major pancreatic disease, chronic pancreatitis. Pancreatic cancer tends to rapidly invade surrounding structures and undergo early metastatic spreading, such that it is the cancer least likely to be confined to its organ of origin at the time of diagnosis (Greenlee et al., 2001. CA Cancer J. Clin., 51: 15-36, 2001). Finally, pancreatic cancer is highly resistant to both chemo- and radiation therapies (Greenlee et al., 2001. CA Cancer J. Clin., 51: 15-36, 2001). Currently the molecular basis for these characteristics of pancreatic cancer is unknown. What are needed are improved methods for the early diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer.