Blood-based Migration Signature Biomarker Panel Discriminates Early Stage New Onset Diabetes related Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma from Type 2 Diabetes

Background and aims: While type 2 diabetes is a well-known risk factor for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), PDAC-induced new-onset diabetes (PDAC-NOD) is a manifestation of underlying PDAC. In this study, we sought to identify potential blood-based biomarkers for distinguishing PDAC-NOD from type 2 diabetes (T2DM) without PDAC. Materials and methods: By ELISA analysis, a migration signature biomarker panel comprising tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), tenascin C (TNC-FNIII-C) and CA 19–9 was analyzed in plasma samples from 50 PDAC-NOD and 50 T2DM controls. Results: Both TFPI (area under the curve (AUC) 0.71) and TNC-FNIII-C (AUC 0.69) outperformed CA 19–9 (AUC 0.60) in distinguishing all stages of PDAC-NOD from T2DM controls. The combined panel showed an AUC of 0.82 (95% CI = 0.73–0.90) (p = 0.002). In the PDAC-NOD early stage II samples, the three biomarkers had an AUC of 0.84 (95% CI = 0.73–0.93) vs CA 19-9, AUC = 0.60, (95% CI = 0.45–0.73), which also improved significance (p = 0.0123). Conclusion: The migration signature panel adds significantly to CA 19–9 to discriminate PDAC-NOD from T2DM controls and warrants further validation for high-risk group stratification.