Objective To explore the diagnostic value of cfDNA in pancreatic cancer.
Methods A total of 467 patients with pancreatic cancer and 129 healthy controls were enrolled. cfDNA concentration was detected using the QuantiDNA Direct cfDNA Test (DiaCarta) kit. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare cfDNA concentration between different groups, and Chi-square test was used to analyze the relationship between cfDNA and pathological data of pancreatic cancer. Diagnostic efficacy was evaluated by ROC analysis.
Results The cfDNA level of patients with pancreatic cancer was significantly higher than that of healthy controls (20.85 vs. 15.15 ng/ml, P=0.0027). The positive rate of cfDNA in pancreatic cancer was higher than that in healthy controls (77.73% vs. 59.68%). The sensitivity levels of cfDNA, CEA, and CA19-9 as diagnostic markers were 62.65%, 64.04%, and 60.32%, and their specificity levels were 61.05%, 70.53%, and 87.37%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the combined detection were 77.26% and 53.58% respectively. The areas under the curve of cfDNA, CEA, CA199, and combined detection were 0.62, 0.67, 0.74, and 0.67, respectively.
Conclusion cfDNA is elevated in patients with pancreatic cancer and may serve as an effective marker for its diagnosis.