Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify suitable molecular targets for tumor-specific imaging of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Procedures: The expression of eight potential imaging targets was assessed by the target selection criteria (TASC)-score and immunohistochemical analysis in normal pancreatic tissue (n = 9), pancreatic (n = 137), and periampullary (n = 28) adenocarcinoma.
Results: Integrin αvβ6, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR), and urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) showed a significantly higher (all p < 0.001) expression in pancreatic adenocarcinoma compared to normal pancreatic tissue and were confirmed by the TASC score as promising imaging targets. Furthermore, these biomarkers were expressed in respectively 88 %, 71 %, 69 %, and 67 % of the pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients.
Conclusions: The results of this study show that integrin αvβ6, CEA, EGFR, and uPAR are suitable targets for tumor-specific imaging of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Keywords: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA); Epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR); Image-guided surgery; Immunohistochemistry; Integrin αvβ6; Molecular imaging; Pancreatic adenocarcinoma; Periampullary adenocarcinoma; Urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR).