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. 2017 Apr 27;8(26):42761–42771. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.17463

Figure 1. Brief workflow of pancreatic cancer associated-biomarker mining.

Figure 1

In the biomarker discovery phase, a shotgun proteomics approach and pathway-based gene expression meta-analysis were performed to identify potential biomarkers for early pancreatic cancer diagnosis. Ninety MRM assays were established and performed on 182 clinical samples. These proteins were prioritized according to statistical evidence (P values ≤ 0.05), and nine proteins were chosen for the biomarker validation phase. The serum levels of these proteins were determined on 456 clinical specimens using SID-MRM-MS. Additionally, immunohistochemistry staining of nine proteins was performed on 70 patient-derived pancreatic tissues. Levels of TIMP-1, -2, -3 and -4, MMP-1,-7,-8 and -9, and IGFBP-1, -2, -3 -4 and -5 were determined for 290 clinical specimens using Luminex. Based on the results, APOA4, APOC3, IGFBP2 and TIMP1 were selected for biomarker panel generation, in combination with CA 19-9.