Predictive Value of Glypican-1 in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

By Patrick Daly - Last Updated: March 19, 2025

In a recent study, researchers investigated the value of serum exosomal and serum glypican 1 (GPC-1) in predicting diagnosis and prognosis of early-stage pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). According to the authors, exosomal and serum GPC-1 could differentiate early-stage PDAC samples from healthy controls, but not from chronic pancreatitis (CP) or benign pancreatic tumor (BPT) samples. The findings were published in Frontiers in Oncology.

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The study included serum samples from 50 patients with PDAC, 6 patients with BPT, 9 patients with CP, and 50 healthy controls. Researchers isolated serum exosomes with an exosome isolation kit and measured exosomal and serum GPC-1 expression levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The investigators also performed a freeze-thaw process to identify the stability of GPC-1.

Glypican-1 Shows Predictive Value in PDAC

Reportedly, the average concentrations of serum exosomal and serum GPC-1 were 1.5 and 0.8 ng/ml, respectively. The authors noted that GPC-1 expression levels were stable throughout repeated freezing and thawing (P>.05).

Serum exosomal and serum GPC-1 levels were significantly higher in patients with PDAC compared with healthy controls (P<.0001), but were only slightly higher versus those in observed in CP and BPT (P>.05). Additionally, expression levels remained elevated in PDAC, CP, and BPT 5 days after pancreatic surgery (P<.05).

Notably, the researchers found that patients with high levels of exosomal (P=.006) and serum (P=.010) GPC-1 had reduced relapse-free survival. The team’s multivariate analyses determined that serum exosomal (P=.008) and serum (P=.041) GPC-1 were independent predictive factors for early PDAC relapse.

Ultimately, the authors concluded that “serum exosomal and serum GPC-1 expression levels were independent predictors of early recurrence and metastasis for early-stage PDAC after surgery.”

Read More Recent Studies on the Pancreatic Cancer Resource Center

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