The Novelty of cFDNA: The Future of Adenocarcinoma Cures.
Fariza Mahmood
Grade 8
Presentation
No video provided
Problem
I needed to find a better way to detect Adenocarcinoma Pancreatic cancer, because it is possible to treat pancreatic cancer with surgery finding it at this early of a stage and potentially curable.
Method
My method is based on using public literature I found online that can be useful for my project and then I will base a conclusion according to papers found online.
Research
MRI
Pros:
- Creates a good image
- No radiation exposure
Cons:
- Takes longer time (ex 40 minutes)
- Expensive
- May not be accessible to some people in the country
- Not always accurate
CT
Pros:
- Short amount of time (around 15-20 minutes)
- High quality Images
Cons:
- Some radiation exposure
- Use of contrast material (dye)
Both of these traditional methods of detection can get cancer go undetected even if you have cancer.
Mortality rates of Pancreatic Cancer:
“The Pancreas and Its Functions.” Pancreas Functions, Location & Disease | Columbia Surgery, University of Columbia| Surgery, 2016, columbiasurgery.org/pancreas/pancreas-and-its-functions.
Biomarkers:
What is a biomarker?
A biomarker is the short term for biological marker, It's and objective measurement which captures what is happening in the cell and/or organism at the given moment. Biomarkers are used for an early warning system for your health.
What is cFDNA?
Short fragments of DNA which is then released into the bloodstream through a natural process of cell death.
What is a localized disease?
A localized disease is a disease which is only limited to a certain part of the body. It is normally found in "where it began" like a tissue or a tumor and hasn't spread to another part of the body.
What is a metastic disease?
A mestatic disease is where when the cancer and/or disease spread to another part of the body which makes new tumors in other organs or tissues of the body.
The difference between metastatic disease and localized.
Localized cancer is only in the area where it started and has not spread to other parts of the body.
Metastatic cancer is cancer which spreads from where it started to another part of the body.
Fig. 1 Demonstration of genetic alterations found in cfDNA within pancreatic cancer patients. The mutated genes most frequently detected in cfDNA of pancreatic cancer patients are KRAs, TP53, APC, SMAD4 and FBXW7.
Data
|
Sensitivity |
Specificity |
Accuracy |
|
|
CEA |
89% |
5.39% |
0.55% |
|
CA 19-9 |
79-81% |
82-90% |
limited by false negative results in lewis negative phenotype was (5-10%), and false positives in presence of obstructive jaundice (10-60%) |
|
CT |
76-92% |
70-100% |
Showed a diagnostic accuracy of 83.3%. It has a very good accuracy and sensitivity for diagnosis pancreatic tumors which are greater than 2 cm but the sensitivity of CT for the ones smaller than 2 cm is 69% with an accuracy of 73% |
|
MRI |
84% |
97% |
MRI offers the possibility to examine the pancreatobiliary system noninvasively by using MRCP. |
|
ERCP, Brushings |
18-70% (exact would be 52%) |
100% |
70% |
|
EUS, Biopsy |
80-85% |
97% |
84% |
|
cfDNA |
65% |
91% |
Conclusion
In Conclusion cFDNA biomarker seems to be a good candidate for Adenocarcinoma Pancreatic Cancer for early detection. In data charts I have found online this seems to be pretty good for early detection and the reason early detection is a very important thing is that if the cancer is found during the earlier stages it's more easier to remove the cancer and curable.
Citations
“The Pancreas and Its Functions.” Pancreas Functions, Location & Disease | Columbia Surgery, University of Columbia| Surgery, 2016, columbiasurgery.org/pancreas/pancreas-and-its-functions.
“NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms.” National Cancer Institute, www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/localized.
“NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms.” National Cancer Institute, Feb. 2017, www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/metastasis.
"What is metastatic cancer?." https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-types/metastatic/what-is-metastatic-cancer.
García-Ortiz, María Victoria, et al. “Diagnosing and monitoring pancreatic cancer through cell-free DNA methylation: Progress and prospects.” Biomarker Research, vol. 11, no. 1, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40364-023-00528-y.
Kato, Hiroyuki, et al. “Role_of_serum_carcinoma_embryonic_antigen__cea_.36.” Wolters Kluwer Health Inc., 2020.
Jeong, Seongmun. “Kim-2023-Cancer-Signature-Ensemble-Integrati.” Springer Nature, 1 Nov. 2023.
Acknowledgement
I don't think this project would be possible without some people I should acknowledge.
I would like to acknowledge my best friend Haniyah for telling me to research this type of cancer when I was looking at cancers that can go undetected.
My mentor Dr. Oliver Bathe for mentoring me throughout this project and answering my questions + helping me research.
Mr. Maruyama my Science fair Cordinator, for helping me with questions and showing support in this project and encouraging me
Joshua Chow My trifold neighbor and one of the CYSF winners from last year, He had shown me support and helped me email my mentor.
Hoda Alzerqani, She helped me with questions and made me find out about biomarkers and thats how I found cFDNA.
Sami Mahmood, who showed me support in this project and how I can find a mentor.
My mom for supporting me throughout this project and letting me know what important information I should know about.
I'd like to thank all these people, I don't know what I would do without them they helped me alot throughout this project and supported me so much which really encouraged me.