Early-Stage Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis: Serum Biomarkers and the Potential for Aptamer-Based Biosensors

Sep 24, 2026

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Pancreatic cancer carries a high mortality burden, driven in part by difficulties in early detection. This review focuses on serum biomarkers and aptamer-based biosensors as an alternative strategy for analyzing blood markers. It summarizes established and newly identified biomarkers, reviews recent biomarker exploration and aptasensor development, and highlights optical and electrochemical sensing modalities for multiplex detection. It also outlines steps toward clinical translation beyond CA19-9.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages52

Reading Time2 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Keywords

1. Introduction

Diagnostic methods for pancreatic cancer

FDA-accepted and CLIA-certified blood-based tests

Biomarker assay examples (GRAIL, Avantect, IMMray, Toray)

Review Early-Stage Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis: Serum Biomarkers and the Potential for Aptamer-Based Biosensors Weisi He 1,†, Jingyu Cui 1,†, Xue-Yan Wang 1, Ryan H. P. Siu 1 and Julian A. Tanner 1,2,3, * Academic Editor: Huiwang Ai Received: 31 March 2025 Revised: 25 April 2025 Accepted: 29 April 2025 Published: 30 April 2025 Citation: He, W.; Cui, J.; Wang, X.-Y.; Siu, R.H.P.; Tanner, J.A. Early-Stage Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis: Serum Biomarkers and the Potential for Aptamer-Based Biosensors. Molecules 2025, 30, 2012. [https://doi.org/](https://doi.org/)[ ](https://doi.org/)[10.3390/molecules30092012](10.3390/molecules30092012) [Copyright:](Copyright:) © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://creativecommons.org/](https://creativecommons.org/)[ ](https://creativecommons.org/)[licenses/by/4.0/](licenses/by/4.0/)) . 1 School of Biomedical Sciences, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; weisi.he.31@connect.hku.hk (W.H.); cjy1996@connect.hku.hk (J.C.); wangxyyy@connect.hku.hk (X.-Y.W.); u3008168@connect.hku.hk (R.H.P.S.) 2 Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre, Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong SAR, China 3 Materials Innovation Institute for Life Sciences and Energy (MILES), HKU-Shenzhen Institute of Research and Innovation (HKU-SIRI), Shenzhen 518057, China * Correspondence: jatanner@hku.hk † These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract: Pancreatic cancer has a high mortality rate, and both the incidence and mortality are continuing to increase in many countries globally. The poor prognosis of pancreatic cancer is in part due to the challenges in early diagnosis. Improving early-stage pancreatic cancer diagnosis would improve survival outcomes. Aptamer-based biosensors provide an alternative technological approach for the analysis of serum biomarkers with several potential advantages. This review summarizes the major pancreatic cancer serum biomarkers, as well as discusses recent progress in biomarker exploration and aptasensor development. Here, we review both established and novel serum biomarkers identified recently, emphasizing their potential for early-stage pancreatic cancer diagnosis. We also propose strategies for further expanding multiplex biomarker panels beyond the established CA19-9 biomarker to enhance diagnostic performance. We discuss technological advancements in aptamer-based sensors for pancreatic cancer-related biomarkers over the last decade. Optical and electrochemical sensors are highlighted as two primary modalities in aptasensor design, each offering unique advantages. Finally, we propose steps towards clinical application using aptamer-based sensors with multiplexed biomarker detection for improved pancreatic cancer diagnostics. Keywords: early-stage pancreatic cancer diagnosis; biomarker; aptamer; sensor 1. Introduction Pancreatic cancer (PC), one of the six primary gastrointestinal cancers, has a high mortality rate with a poor prognosis. Incidence rates and death rates have increased globally since the year 2000 [1] . In China, the incidence rate has increased significantly over the last two decades and remains on an upward trajectory [2] . In 2020 and 2021, Europe and the Americas occupied the top two highest incidence and death rates for global PC [1]. In the United States, for 2025, it has been estimated that PC will be the third-ranking cancer ranked by total deaths and the least favorable in prognosis [3] . The 5-year survival rate is only 8%[3] . This poor prognosis of PC is partially due to the late detection of PC [4] . Overall, the 5-year survival rate at least doubles for PC patients after surgical resection [5] . Less than 20% of patients can confirm PC at a stage where surgical resection can be performed [5] . Improving early-stage detecti

FAQs

Why is early-stage pancreatic cancer diagnosis important?

Early detection improves survival outcomes, while late detection is a major contributor to the poor prognosis. The review emphasizes that better early-stage diagnosis can reduce mortality.

What diagnostic approaches are commonly used for pancreatic cancer?

Tissue biopsy, imaging, and blood tests are presented as three major diagnostic methods. Tissue biopsy is most sensitive but is expensive and invasive, while imaging and blood tests are less invasive but may have insufficient sensitivity.

How do aptamer-based biosensors relate to serum biomarker detection?

Aptamer-based biosensors provide an alternative technological approach to analyze serum biomarkers. The review highlights optical and electrochemical aptasensors and discusses multiplex detection strategies.

Sep 24, 2026

Uploaded by Rizky