Figure 2.

Current understanding of molecular biomarkers for pancreatic cancer. A myriad of circulating molecules may be used as tumor markers, including cell-free DNA (cfDNA), cell-free RNA (cfRNA), circulating tumor cells (CTC), circulating tumor proteins, and extracellular vesicles, more specifically exosomes. The characterization of these tumor biomarkers favors improvement of the knowledge of tumor heterogeneity and, most importantly, contributes to early detection, monitoring of disease progression and response to treatment. Moreover, some of these molecules, in the near future, can play a role as therapeutic targets, hopefully allowing the control of the disease during its early curable stages.