Table 1.

Major molecular markers in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and their roles in screening

Marker	Implication of mutation	Diagnosis
EGF/EGFR	Constitutive activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway	Screening for the patients more likely to respond to EGFR inhibitors
TGF-A	Promotes metastasis
TGF-A	Brings about epithelial mesenchymal transition
VEGF/VEGFR	Tumor cell invasion and migration promoting tumor progression	Good diagnostic tool especially in combination with Cx43
VEGF/VEGFR	Lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic metastasis	Good diagnostic tool especially in combination with Cx43
FGF	Cell proliferation, migration, and invasion	Serum FGF-BP1 can be used as a marker for high-risk premalignant lesions
MMPs	Digestion of extracellular components	MMP-2 in pancreatic juice
	Cell dissociation and subsequent invasion	Serum MMP-9
		Plasma MMP-7 levels help to distinguish between PC and CP
miRNAs	Invasive capacity	Plasma miRNA profiling for blood-based biomarkers
miRNAs	Metastasis and maintenance of cancer	Plasma miRNA profiling for blood-based biomarkers

EGF: Endothelial growth factor; EGFR: Endothelial growth factor together with its receptors; TGF-A: Tumor growth factor-A; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; VEGFR: Vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptor; FGF: Fibroblast growth factor; MMPs: Metalloproteinases; PC: Pancreatic carcinoma; CP: Chronic pancreatitis.