Serum chemokine CXCL-8 as a better biomarker for diagnosis and prediction of pancreatic cancer than its specific receptor CXCR-2, CRP and classical tumor markers (CA 19-9 and CEA).

Introduction Novel biomarkers are critically needed to improve the management of pancreatic cancer (PC) patients. Objectives Our study is the first to evaluate the clinical usefulness of serum CXCL-8 in relation to its specific receptor CXCR-2 in the diagnosis and prediction of PC compared to classical tumor markers (carbohydrate antigen 19-9, CA 19-9 and carcinoembryonic antigen, CEA) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Patients and methods The study included 76 subjects - 42 PC patients and 34 healthy volunteers. Serum levels of these proteins were measured by immunological methods. Results Serum CXCL-8 and CXCR-2 concentrations were significantly higher in PC patients compared to healthy controls, similarly to classical tumor markers and CRP. CXCL-8 levels were significantly elevated in patients with the presence of lymph node metastasis compared to individuals without nodal involvement. The diagnostic sensitivity, accuracy, predictive value of negative (NPV) results and areas under ROC curves (AUC) for CXCL-8 were higher than those for CXCR-2, CRP and classical tumor markers (CA 19-9 and CEA). Moreover, serum CXCL-8 was the only significant predictor of PC risk. Conclusions Our findings indicate the significance of the CXCL-8/CXCR-2 axis in the pathogenesis of PC. Serum CXCL-8 is emerging as the strongest candidate for a potential PC biomarker among all proteins tested.