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Ординатура / Хирургия / Библиотека им академика М.И. Перельмана / Книга_850_Библиотеки_им_академика_М_И_Перельмана

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Figure 1 Summary of international guidelines for pancreatic cysts surveillance and indication for EUS-FNA. IPMN: Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm; MCN: Mucinous cystic neoplasm; EUS-FNA: Endoscopic Ultrasound with Fine Needle Aspiration; CT: Computed Tomography; MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; HGD: High Grade Dysplasia (European evidence-based guidelines on pancreatic cystic neoplasms 2018; Elta et al. 2018; Megibow et al. 2017; Tanaka et al. 2017; Vege et al. 2015).
estimating the probability of PDAC in individuals with NOD, undertaking validation studies of candidate biomarkers to detect PDAC in the NOD group and providing a platform facil­itating screening protocols PDAC in individuals with NOD (Maitra et al. 2018). One such study, Early Detection Initiative
(EDI) is a randomized controlled trial designed to improve detection of operable PDAC (Chari et al. 2022). The study uses the Enriching New-onset Diabetes for Pancreatic Cancer (ENDPAC) algorithm (Sharma et al. 2018), which stratifies sub­jects with NOD on the basis of age, and changes in both weight
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and diabetes parameters. Individuals with high ENDPAC scores are stratified to an intervention arm, which includes imaging. Comparisons will be made of the proportion of late stage PDAC in the intervention and observation study arms.
A Cancer Research UK-funded study, UK Early Detection Initiative (UK-EDI) is currently open in the UK and recruiting people over 50 years of age who are within six months of their diagnosis of diabetes in the UK (Pereira et al. 2020). With recruit­ment occurring from primary care, specialist diabetes centers and secondary care, this study aims to create a unique resource in the UK, including clinical data blood samples that will be used to inform how best to screen for PDAC in NOD subjects in the UK, including generation of data on the cost-effectiveness of diag­nosing PDAC earlier in the setting of NOD. It is envisaged that the UK-EDI resource will support the validation of candidate early PDAC detection biomarkers as well as new biomarker discovery.
Biomarkers
Biomarkers for Detection
A number of approaches to develop biomarkers that could facilitate screening for pancreatic cancer are being investigated. Multi-cancer liquid biopsy tests, such as CancerSEEK and GalleriTM have been tested for their sensitivity and specificity for PDAC. CancerSEEK tests for mutations in cell free DNA and eight cancer-associated blood protein biomarkers and was observed to discriminate diagnosed PDAC from healthy con­trol with a sensitivity and specificity of >70% and >99%, respec­tively (Cohen et al. 2018). The GalleriTM test, developed by GRAIL, uses methylation signals from targeted circulating free DNA and machine learning classifiers for cancer detection. In a case-controlled observational study, involving subjects already diagnosed with cancer or under investigation for highly suspected cancer, the test detected 61.9% (13/21) of stage I, 60% (12/20) of stage II, 85.7% (18/21) of stage III, and 95.9% (70/73) of stage IV pancreatic cancers (Klein et al. 2021).
In terms of screening for PDAC in the high-risk group of NOD, the low prevalence of PDAC at approximately 1% in this group represents a significant barrier, necessitating the further enrich­ment of this group for PDAC. Biomarker-based stratification of individuals with NOD into high or low risk for PDAC, based on whether diabetes is secondary to pancreatic disease (type 3c diabetes mellitus, T3cDM), or the more prevalent T2DM is being explored as a means of enriching for PDAC-related DM. The pre­cise prevalence of T3cDM amongst individuals with DM is not known, although various estimates, depending on study design have been reported (Ewald et al. 2012; Vujasinovic et al. 2013; Woodmansey et al. 2017). Briefly, in a study of 1,868 patients diag­nosed with DM who were admitted to hospital in Germany, reclas­sification of their DM according to the American Diabetes Association identified 172 patients (9.2%) that could be classified as having T3cDM (Ewald et al. 2012). Of 150 patients with DM in a single center in Slovenia, the prevalence of exocrine pancreatic
insufficiency was found to be 5.4% (Vujasinovic et al. 2013). In a third study, when a cohort of 31,789 new diagnoses of adult onset diabetes in primary care in the United Kingdom was examined for pre-existing pancreatic disease, 559 individuals (1.75%) had a diagnosed pancreatic disease which preceded their diagnosis of diabetes (Woodmansey et al. 2017). This study differs from the previous two in that no attempt at reclassification of diabetes status of the whole cohort was made. We recently reported that the combination of two blood-based proteins, adiponectin and inter­leukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) showed strong diagnostic potential (AUC of 0.91; 95% CI: 0.84–0.99), for the distinction of T3cDM from T2DM (Oldfield et al. 2022). More work will be required using pre-diagnostic NOD cohorts to determine whether biomarker-based stratification of this high-risk group, based on the subtype of diabetes, will facilitate PDAC detection earlier.
There are numerous additional new approaches being taken to detect PDAC early. Here we list a small selection of recent advances. Ferguson et al. (2022) explored whether the diag­nostic accuracy of single PDAC tumor cell-derived extracel­lular vesicles (EVs) could be improved by detecting mutated cancer proteins in them. Having optimized single-EV analysis (sEVA) using model lines, the authors were able to detect vesi­cles in 15 of 16 stage I pancreatic cancer patients. This work provides an important proof-of-concept that sEVA may become a useful method for earlier detection of pancreatic cancer.
The evidence that microbiota contribute to gastrointestinal can­cer initiation, disease progression and treatment response is per­suasive (Johnston and Bullman 2022). This has led researchers to investigate the potential for alterations in an individual’s microbi­ome to facilitate PDAC diagnosis (Kohi et al. 2022). Using secre­tin-stimulated duodenal fluid, Kohi et al. examined bacterial and fungal profiles from patients undergoing duodenal endoscopy (Kohi et al. 2022). In a total of 308 patients, including 74 with PDAC, 98 with pancreatic cysts, and 134 with normal pancreata, the group reported that patients with PDAC had higher levels of microbial DNA but lower microbial diversity compared to control subjects. While encouraging, additional work is required, including using pre-diagnostic samples, to address whether duodenal microbiome profiles could aid stratification of PDAC risk in individuals under surveillance for PDAC.
The potential for gut and oral microbiota to identify PDAC have recently been investigated (Kartal et al. 2022; Nagata et al.
2022). Undertaking shotgun metagenomics and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of fecal and saliva samples from Spanish PDAC patients and controls, Kartal et al. identified a fecal clas­sifier comprising 27 microbial species that showed accuracy for discriminating PDAC from controls. This and other classifiers performed equally well in a German validation cohort (Kartal et al. 2022). Similarly, Nagata et al. trained fecal and saliva metagenomics data from a Japanese cohort to discriminate PDAC patients from control individuals, deriving signatures including 30 gut and 18 oral species, associated with PDAC (Nagata et al. 2022). In validation studies, based on the Spanish and German cohorts mentioned above (Kartal et al. 2022),
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these signatures performed well in distinguishing PDAC. Of note, in all three cohorts Nagata et al. reported significant enrichments in the PDAC gut signatures of Streptococcus and Veillonella spp and a depletion of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (Nagata et al. 2022). Taken together, these studies provide promise that fecal and salivary microbiota may contribute to early detection protocols for PDAC.
Advances in artificial intelligence provide automated tools for capturing unique features in medical images that may not be perceptible to the human eye. Qureshi et al. undertook radiomic analysis of abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans taken prior to PDAC diagnosis, identifying features pre­dictive of PDAC. This led to a classifier, trained to perform automatic classification of CT scans into healthy control or pre­diagnostic. The average classification accuracy on an external dataset was 86% (Qureshi et al. 2022).
Predictive and Prognostic Biomarkers
Management of patients with pancreatic cancer is facilitated by any factor that can be used to predict outcome prior to treatment. This has been and will continue to be based on a clinical evaluation of the patient and their tumor. The assumption that patients with a larger more invasive cancer will survive for less time than a patient with a smaller local­ized cancer is supported by a mass of empirical evidence, nevertheless determining prognosis is considerably more complex than determining stage, also accurately determining stage in a patient prior to surgical intervention is not always an easy task. The PET-PANC study confirmed the benefit of conventional FDG-PET in staging cancers (Ghaneh et al.
2016), but although this is unquestionably a biomarker study, we will avoid discussion of PET and other forms of imaging (as these will be dealt with elsewhere). Similarly, grade of the tumor is a determinant of prognosis and histopathological assessment of grade is critical in giving an evaluation of prognosis in adjuvant therapy and increasingly following tar­geted biopsy in patients with advanced disease, but again this is a topic for another chapter (Chapter 20). Here we will only consider surrogate markers of grade, stage, and the level of residual disease subsequent to surgery or first line therapy (Figure 2).
Prognostic Biomarkers
Prognostic Serum Markers
Serum levels of particular proteins or antigens (such as CEA, PSA, alpha-fetoprotein, CA125) have long aided the diagnosis of cancers. For PDAC, the most widely used marker is CA19-9. CA19-9 levels are predictive of disease stage, resectability, pro­gression, recurrence, and survival (Hartwig et al. 2011; Ko et al.
2005). Perioperative levels correlate with disease stage, and
independent predictor of survival in resectable cases (Ferrone et al. 2006; Humphris et al. 2012). CA19-9 kinetics are a strong predictor of response to treatments (Luo et al. 2021). Postoperatively, CA19-9 levels <90U/ml can both predict favorable response to adjuvant chemotherapy, as well as guide the choice between FOLFIRINOX or gemcitabine (Luo et al.
2021). Evidence emerging from a large cancer database study in 28,000 patients (The National Cancer Database) showed stage dependent decrease in survival, and points to benefit from neo­adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with pre-operative CA19-9 levels >37 U/ml (Bergquist et al. 2016). CA19-9 response in borderline resectable or locally advanced PDAC patients receiving neoadjuvant therapy, can guide chemotherapeutic switch and its duration improving post-operative disease out­comes and patient survival (Truty et al. 2021). Furthermore, as demonstrated in a key study (MPACT trial) comparing systemic therapies in metastatic PDAC, CA19-9 decline eight weeks into treatment indicates a chemotherapeutic efficacy, which can help in evaluating prognosis or even in suggesting a need for a change in therapy (Chiorean et al. 2016).
Non-cancer Prognostic Markers
Prognosis is determined by the nature of the cancer, but also by the patient who developed the cancer. Performance status mea­sures including the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) and Karnofsky (KPS) are undoubtedly biomarkers, and are central factors in prognostication, choice of treatment, and care and patient inclusion in clinical trials, but here only surrogate markers of performance will be considered. These include markers of sarcopenia, gut dysbiosis, aging, and immu­nological response. Imaging techniques such as Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) can be used to measure changes longitudinally and relate them to cachexia and so to prognosis (Cole et al. 2020). Similarly measures of immune response and inflammation such a CRP (Laird et al. 2016) or Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) (Barker et al. 2020) are also related to cachexia and hence prognosis. The immunological capacity of a patient is both influenced and influences the gut microbiome, making dysbiosis in this compartment an attractive biomarker (Guo et al. 2022). Age is a well-known prognostic factor in pancreatic cancer, although this might be due to different management approaches in elder patients (van Dongen et al.
2022) but aside from chronological age, it also appears that markers of biological age such as GDF15 relate not just to the risk of cancer but also to its prognosis (Basisty et al. 2020).
Molecular Predictors of Prognosis
Cancer is fundamentally a genetic disease determined by the genome of the cancer cells and their interaction with the soma of the patient, impacting on the expression patterns of the whole tumor (cancer and stromal cells). Tissue transcriptomic
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Figure 2 A summary of evolving biomarkers for screening/surveillance, prognostication, and prediction of treatment response in pancreatic cancer. CA19-9 is the only clinically approved biomarker used for confirmation of diagnosis and prediction of stage, resectability, and monitoring of disease progression.
studies have led to an evolving classification of pancreatic can­cers (Bailey et al. 2016). Puleo et al. carried out RNA-sequencing of formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue. The authors described 5 PDAC subtypes by integrating genomic data from the neoplastic, stromal and immune compartments (Puleo et al. 2018); Pure basal like (higher in mutations of CDKN2A
lymphocytes, CTLA4 expression and low proteasome/apo­ptotic signals) (Puleo et al. 2018). Survival was associated with subtype; basal like (median OS 10.3 months), stroma activated (median OS 20.2 months), desmoplastic (median OS 24.3 months), immune classical (median OS 37.4 months) and pure
classical (median OS 43.1 months). and TP53, with KRAS Gly12Asp, Gly12Val mutations and with greater metastatic spread along with scarce stroma), stroma activated (higher MET and nuclear GLI1 expression suggest­ing increased hedgehog signaling; also increased α-SMA, SPARC and FAP), desmoplastic (higher levels of CTLA4, increased number of T-cells, more inflammatory and vascular marker with lower tumor cell content), pure classical (charac­terized by KRAS Gly12Arg mutation, with high levels of human equilibrate transporter 1; hENT1 and highly stromal), and immune classical (marked stroma, NK-cells, T and B
Predictive Biomarkers
Contrasting Prognostic and Predictive Biomarkers
Therapeutic benefit is shown when individual patients survive
longer with treatment than without it. It is therefore easier to
demonstrate benefit in a patient with a very poor prognosis
without treatment than in a patient who would have a good
prognosis regardless of treatment. Therefore, far from being
equivalent to prognostic biomarkers, it is easier to show that a
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marker is predictive if it is inversely prognostic in the absence of the specific treatment. It is therefore surprising that hENT1 (Human Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporter 1) expression has been shown to be more highly expressed in the pure classical subtype described above, as high expression of this protein was shown to be associated with better survival in patients treated with gemcitabine than patients treated with 5FU (at least partly due to poor prognosis in patient with high expression of this protein when given alternative treatments) (Aughton et al. 2021).
Predicting Predictive Biomarkers
Empirical identification of biomarkers that predict benefit of one therapy over another is difficult, so in most cases specific candidates are examined based on their theoretical relationship to the treatments being investigated. For example, high levels of a protein that is known to activate a particular pro-drug would be expected to benefit the use of that pro-drug, while high levels of the target of a particular drug would be expected to make that drug less effective (simply on the basis that more of the drug would have to reach the cancer cell to allow inhibition of the target).
Choice of Chemotherapy
Targets and Drug Metabolism
As mentioned above the tumor cell levels of the nucleoside transporter hENT1, which transports gemcitabine into pancreatic cancer cells has been shown to benefit the use of gemcitabine over a nucleobase therapy (5-FU) (Greenhalf et al.
2014). The rationale for testing this specific hypothesis is clear (although, the fact that hENT1 also transports gemcitabine out of cancer cells is often forgotten). Similarly, the rationale for examining the effect of expression of the target of gemcitabine (ribonucleotide reductase) is clear, but in this case the hypo­thesis that high levels would mean gemcitabine was less effec­tive had to be rejected (at least in cells with low levels of hENT1) (Elander et al. 2018). Another clear hypothesis was that the protein cytidine deaminase (CDA), which metabolizes and so potentially eliminates gemcitabine, should be associated with a low level of response to that drug. Again, this was not seen when the levels of the protein were examined, although when the levels of the transcripts of CDA and hENT1 were examined these were found not to relate to the levels of their respective proteins and in the case of CDA, where CDA transcript levels were high, the benefit of high hENT1 protein was found to be lost, put another way, the benefits of hENT1 on gemcitabine response were only seen in patients with low levels of CDA transcript even though the low transcript levels were not reflected in low levels of the protein (Aughton et al. 2021).
The majority of patients who have unresectable and meta-
static PDAC disease, which accounts for ~50% of patients with
PDAC, are often placed on a Gemcitabine-based chemotherapy, like Gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane®). FOLFIRINOX is also a commonly utilized form of chemotherapy, used to treat good performance status patients with PDAC (as discussed else­where), certainly in patients with good performance status (Conroy et al. 2018). To be of use, a predictive biomarker applied to most patients would therefore have to indicate that an alternative treatment would be of more benefit (or of less harm) than FOLFIRINOX. Applying the same rationale as above for gemcitabine, based on the known action of the drug, is compli­cated by the fact that FOLFIRINOX is a combination therapy: 5-FU, Irinotecan and Oxaliplatin, all having different modes of action. With respect to irinotecan, high expression of the pro­drug metabolic enzyme carboxylesterase-2 (CES2) would obvi­ously give greater sensitivity to the prodrug, and certainly there is an association between sensitivity to irinotecan and level of expression of CES2 in cell lines, with knockdown of CES2 hav­ing the predictable effect of increasing resistance to irinotecan (Capello et al. 2015).
However, it is far from evidence that a tumor with high levels of CES2 would be more sensitive to irinotecan, let alone that this would mean that CES2 levels would predict response to the combination of drugs in FOLFIRINOX, particularly in the con­text of adjuvant therapy where its expression levels would relate to cells already removed from the patient. Control of CES2 expression is at least in part dependent on the level of expres­sion of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4A), which in turn is upregulated in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Thus, PDAC patients with DM have higher levels of CES2, so it is reasonable to assume cancers would have greater sensitivity to irinotecan. A mechanism maintaining this even once the cancer cells are excised from the patient is supported by greater irinotecan sensitivity of patient derived xenografts with higher CES2 levels. This does not mean that patients with DM respond better to FOLFIRINOX or even that patients with higher levels of CES2 respond better, but it is supportive of that hypothesis. To date CES2 association with prognosis in patients has been supported (albeit in relatively small numbers of patients) but proof that this is dependent on the choice of FOLFIRINOX as a treatment option has yet to be provided (Capello et al. 2020).
For oxaliplatin, no prodrug activation is required and theo­retically the key determinant of sensitivity (as with all platinum based agents) is capacity to carry out nucleotide excision repair. Sadly, when levels of enzymes involved in this pathway (e.g. ERCC1) have been investigated, no predictive value has been established in patients with pancreatic cancer (Tezuka et al.
2018).
Similarly, for Gemcitabine with nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane®) as an alternative to FOLFIRINOX, the hoped for (and theoreti­cally plausible) association of response with accumulation of albumin-bound drugs, linked to the expression level of Secreted Protein Acid and Rich in Cysteine (SPARC), was investigated
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and shown not to be adequate for use as a biomarker (Ormanns et al. 2016).
Efficacy of a drug is not only determined by susceptibility of cancer cells to the agent, but also (and inversely) by sensi­tivity of the recipient’s healthy cells to that agent. Hence, although cancer cell expression of DihydroPyrimidine Dehydrogenase (DPD) would be expected to reduce the effectiveness of 5-FU as it metabolizes and clears this agent, an inverse relationship would be predicted between DPD expression in non-cancer cells, given that reduced levels would increase toxicity of the drug. Cancer cell DPD levels proved ineffective as a biomarker (Elander et al. 2018), but germline genotypes of up to 9% of patients, which give low DPD expression do result in higher toxicities and therefore poor prognosis (Wörmann et al. 2020).
Semi-empirical Biomarker Selection
There are pathways and processes that, while not specific to any particular agent, are clearly related to an effective response to chemotherapy. For example, rate of cell cycle progression, ability to carry out apoptosis, level of inflammation, and capacity for DNA repair. A cancer that is poor at DNA repair would be pre­dicted to respond better to a DNA damaging agent, conversely a patient who is poor at DNA repair due to germline deficiency might be predicted to suffer greater toxicity with such an agent. An agent that relies on patient’s immune response will be more likely effective in a patient with an unimpaired immunogenic capacity or against a particularly immunogenic cancer. Agents that work through apoptosis will be most effective against can­cers where key elements of the apoptotic pathways are intact. Finally, agents that work by killing dividing cells will be most effective where cancer cells have a high turnover.
DNA Damage Repair Gene Mutations
PDAC can be subtyped (“stable,” “locally rearranged,” “scat­tered,” and “unstable”) based on genomic alterations and var­iation in chromosomal structure (Waddell et al. 2015). DNA damage repair (DDR) gene mutations commonly associated with the “unstable” molecular subtype include that carry out Homologous DNA Repair, generally Fanconi anemia pathway genes (e.g. BRCA1/2 and PALB2) and genes involved in sig- naling the presence of DNA damage (e.g. ATM/ATR). Mutations in these genes can be both germline and somatic in PDAC (Perkhofer et al. 2021). The unstable group of patients would be predicted to respond better to DNA damaging agents such as FOLFIRINOX (Froeling et al. 2021). More spe­cifically, deficiency in homologous DNA repair of double strand breaks would make cells more sensitive to agents that target other forms of repair and so increase the chance of dou­ble strand breaks forming. Hence in patients who have germ­line mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 their cancer cells are more sensitive to inhibitors of the proteins PARP1/PARP2
which are involved in base excision repair and other forms of single strand DNA repair (Bryant et al. 2005). Maintenance treatment using PARP inhibitors (such as Olaparib) have shown clinical efficacy in ovarian, breast, and metastatic pancreatic cancer on a background of BRCA germline muta­tions. Most significantly, the efficacy of Olaparib as a mainte­nance therapy was recently assessed in the phase III POLO (Pancreas Cancer Olaparib Ongoing) trial, which demon­strated extended progression free survival (7.4 months vs 3.8 months for the placebo group) in germline BRCA1/2 mutated, metastatic PDAC (Golan et al. 2019).
Notably, the established clinical benefit has so far been restricted to germline BRCA mutations. Up to 7% of PC patients harbor germline BRCA mutations (Golan et al. 2019); loss of homologous DNA repair probably occurs earlier in tumorigen­esis in such patients and so will be more homogeneous in the cancer, which may explain why inherited mutations result in the most obvious benefit from PARP inhibition. Other inherited mutations in DNA repair genes include pathogenic mutations in mismatch repair (MMR) genes (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2). Germline mutations in these genes cause Lynch syn­drome, which is most associated with a hereditary predisposi­tion to colon cancer, but also increase the risk of PDAC, MLH1 mutation being associated with a 7.8 relative risk of PDAC (Bujanda and Herreros-Villanueva 2017). The MMR proteins function to maintain genomic stability by repairing base-base mismatches or insertion/deletion mis-pairs following DNA rep­lication and recombination. DNA mismatches commonly occur in regions with repetitive nucleotide sequences (microsatellites); loss of function of the MMR proteins results in accumulation of mononucleotide errors, causing microsatellites to change length (i.e. demonstrate instability).
Pancreatic cancer is generally not associated with microsatel­lite instability and is not associated with sensitivity to check­point inhibitor treatment. However, MSI is associated with better response to immunotherapy, presumably because of a greater mutational burden in the cancers (Ganesh et al. 2019). So, it is reasonable to assume that PDAC in Lynch syndrome families would be more responsive to checkpoint inhibitors (Kubo et al. 2022).
The ATM protein, like the ATR protein binds to double strand DNA breaks and signals to cause cell cycle arrest and DNA repair. Biallelic pathogenic variants in the ATM gene result in ataxia telangiectasia, a syndrome including telangiectasia of the skin, cerebellar ataxia, and immunosuppression. Affected indi­viduals present in the first decade of life and have a 38% risk of cancer over their lifetime, including a 2.4-fold increased risk of PC (Geoffroy-Perez et al. 2001; Thompson et al. 2005). There is some evidence that PDAC with mutant ATM is more sensitive to gemcitabine, consistent with gemcitabine inhibiting ribonu­cleotide reductase and hence promoting replication catastrophe through nucleotide starvation (Dunlop et al. 2020).
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Inflammation, Apoptosis, and the Cell Cycle
While biomarkers of DNA repair defects have proved to be promising predictive biomarkers (at least with germline muta­tions) markers of apoptosis and cell cycle progression have proven more effective as prognostic markers than predictive markers. A mutation in TP53, for example, will make a cell more resistant to gemcitabine (Fiorini et al. 2015) as it is more difficult to induce apoptosis, but it will similarly reduce the sensitivity to FOLFIRINOX or any other chemotherapy, so it is of limited pre­dictive value when selecting a therapy. Similarly, inflammatory markers may associate with worse survival in patients treated with irinotecan, there is as yet no evidence that better survival would be seen with alternative treatments (Merz et al. 2020).
Predicting Response to Novel Agents
To date chemotherapy remains the mainstay of adjuvant, neoad­juvant, and palliative care. This is no doubt a consequence of the limited number of patients who will benefit from more targeted therapy, hence an inability to show benefit in an unselected group of patients. Predictive biomarkers could provide the necessary selection of necessity; this will require an even greater dependence on non-empirical methods to choose which markers to test. Fortunately, targeted therapy has (by definition) a clear target and equally clear candidate biomarkers.
Perhaps the most obvious target for treatment of pancreatic cancer is the near ubiquitous K-Ras mutations. These have proven remarkably difficult to exploit, but recently anti KRAS agents (sotorasib and adagrasib) have been FDA approved for treating KRAS G12C mutated tumors, although this variant constitutes only 3% of PDACs (Hong et al. 2020).
Predictive Biomarkers in Systemic PDAC Therapy
Predicting patient response to these agents in advance of therapy is therefore pivotal for optimizing clinical outcomes. Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) is a key catabolic enzyme of 5-FU, and chemo resistance to this agent is seen with its upregulation, resulting in poor clinical response (Elander et al. 2018). Guidelines therefore recommend patient testing for DPD deficiency prior to treatment with 5-FU derivatives and capecitabin (Wörmann et al. 2020).
Biliary Tract Cancers
preventing these cancer types (Valle et al. 2017). BTCs are defined as epithelial malignancies of the biliary tract and include cancers of the gallbladder (GBC), cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) or bile duct cancer, affecting intrahepatic (iCCA) or extrahepatic bile ducts (eCCA), and the ampulla of Vater (AVC) (Jackson et al. 2019).
BTC incidence varies by geographic regions, with the highest incidence observed in Chile (14.35) and the lowest in Vietnam (1.25) (Baria et al. 2022). BTCs occur more commonly in South-East Asia, due to the increased incidences of parasitic diseases including liver flukes Opisthorchis viverrini (OV) and Clonorchiasis sinensis (CS) infestations in those zones (partic­ularly in north-east Thailand and China) where BTCs (specifi­cally CCA) are more prevalent (Sithithaworn et al. 2012). However, overall, GBC is the most common cancer of the bil­iary tract (2.2 cases per 100,000 worldwide) although incidence varies globally (Mahdavifar et al. 2018; Marcano-Bonilla et al.
2016). The incidence of BTC in high-income countries are about 0.35–2 cases per 100,000 annually; however, in endemic regions of Thailand and China its incidence increases up to 40-fold (Izquierdo-Sanchez et al. 2022; Valle et al. 2021). A higher prevalence is observed in certain regions (South America and southern Asia) where cholelithiasis is more prev­alent and linked with the development of GBC (Hundal and Shaffer 2014). The incidence of GBCs is lower in western Europe and the USA (1.6–2.0/100,000) and in high-risk coun­tries (e.g., Chile and India) the incidence reaches 24.3/100,000 in females (and 8.6/100,000 in males) (Rawla et al. 2019). Overall, the incidence of BTCs is higher in males than in females (Baria et al. 2022).
Currently, CCA is the second most common type of primary hepatic malignancy, accounting for an estimated 15% of all pri­mary liver tumors (Sung et al. 2021). CCA contributes roughly to 2% of all cancer-related deaths yearly. Epidemiological data suggests a constant rise in CCA incidence worldwide, being distinctly apparent in certain Western and Southeast Asian countries, with Asians having the highest incidence for both subtypes (Banales et al. 2016). Worldwide, the highest CCA incidence rate is found in Thailand (113/100,000 in males, and 50/100,000 in females). Globally, CCA has an incidence rate of
0.3–6/100,000 inhabitants per year (Ledbetter and Hotchkiss
1975). Studies have reported differences in the trends in inci­dence among iCCA and eCCA, as iCCA is seen to be on a steady rise, whereas eCCA displays a more stable incidence rate (Brindley et al. 2021; Khan et al. 2019).
Introduction
Biliary tract cancers (BTCs) comprise a group of rare and highly heterogeneous malignancies associated with poor patient survival, and a poorly understood etiology (Banales et al. 2020; Tariq et al. 2019). Identifying key modifiable risk factors in BTCs is essential for predicting, treating, and
Etiology and Risk Factors
The etiology of BTCs is complex and remains poorly under­stood. Main risk factors are common among BTCs (Table 1). Presence of gallstones is the strongest risk factor for GBC and is also relevant to CCA development (hepatolithiasis) (Kirstein and Vogel 2016). Other risk factors include porcelain
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Table 1 Summary of risk factors and high-risk groups linked with the development of pancreatic and biliary tract cancers.
Risk factor Pancreatic cancer BTC
Lifestyle
Genetic predisposition Germline mutations:
Environmental,
occupational
High risk groups Familial Pancreatic Cancer
Anatomical,
abnormalities
Modifiable
Smoking Alcohol Obesity Dietary
High fructose diet
Red meat
Processed meats
Non-modifiable
Age
BRCA1/2 (HBOC)
KRAS
PALB2
CDKN2A
ATM
APC
MLH1/MSH2, MSH2, MSH6 (Lynch Syndrome)
TP53 (Li-Fraumeni syndrome)
Pesticides Aromatic Hydrocarbons Heavy metals
Hereditary Caner Syndromes
Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome (STK11)
Hereditary pancreatitis (PRSS1)
Pancreatic Cysts
IPMNs
MCNs
New-Onset Diabetes (NOD)
Modifiable
Smoking Alcohol Obesity Dietary
• Low fiber diet
• Raw fish
• Red meat
• Processed meats
Germline mutations:
BRCA1/2
KRAS
SMAD4
NF1
ATR
NF1
Toxins
Aflatoxin (Aspergillus spp)
Ochratoxin A (Aspergillus spp)
Parasitic infections
O. viverrine
C. sinensis
Viral infections
Hepatitis B virus (HBV)
Hepatitis C virus (HCV)
Bacterial infections
Salmonella spp
H. pylori
Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) Liver fluke Endemic regions
(O. viverrini, C. sinensis)
High risk occupation
Rubber, dye industry
Agriculture (pesticides)
Gallbladder polyps Caroli’s disease Gallstones, hepatolithiasis Porcelain gallbladder
ARID1A
PBRM1
RAD51D
MUC17
MLH1/MSH2
TP53
spp: Species; NOD: New Onset Diabetes.
gallbladder, gallbladder polyps, benign biliary disorders associ­ated with chronic inflammation (such as primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) for CCA), chronic infection (e.g. salmonella typhi), liver diseases (cirrhosis due to other causes, hepatitis C), congenital malformations such as choledochal cysts and biliary
papillomatosis, family history (risk increases if multiple first-degree relatives had the disease), and genetic alterations (e.g. mutations in TP53, KRAS, CDKN2A, IDH1/2, FGFR2 fusions). Apart from geographically associated risks, there are some other risk factors associated with an increased risk of
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developing BTCs which are a bit more controversial, including: age, metabolic disorders (diabetes, obesity), smoking, and alcohol abuse (Labib et al. 2019). However, in the case of CCA, the vast majority of cases (around 70%) develop sporadically without any known underlying disease (Brindley et al. 2021; Izquierdo-Sanchez et al. 2022; Khan et al. 2019).
Infectious Diseases
Parasitic Infections
Certain systemic infections involving parasites, bacteria, and viruses play a pivotal role in the development of BTC through longstanding inflammation within the biliary tract. There is a strong association between Opisthorchis viverrini (OV) and Clonorchiasis sinensis (CS) liver fluke infestations and the development of biliary tract malignancies (Prueksapanich et al. 2018). There is a consistently high incidence of CCA in endemic regions including Asia and North-Eastern Europe areas with an incidence of 85 per 100,000 population (Chaiteerakij et al. 2017). O. viverrini infection, is endemic to northeast Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, whereas China, Taiwan, Korea, and Vietnam are endemic areas for C. sinen- sis, both which are risk factors most strongly associated with development of CCA (Khan et al. 2019). The consumption of raw or undercooked wild-caught cyprinoid fish (which host these parasites) leads to infestation with these liver flukes which drive an inflammatory process whilst occupying the biliary tree and the gallbladder (Moeini et al. 2021; Phyo Myint et al. 2020). These flukes secrete oncogenic metabo­lites into circulating bile which are inflammatory as they induce desquamation of the biliary epithelium, ductal fibrosis, and adenomatous hyperplasia formation within bil­iary ducts which precedes dysplasia and biliary carcinoma (Cardinale et al. 2018). Evidence of fluke-induced host inflammatory response within biliary ducts is evident through the expression of Opistorchis and Clonorchiasis antigens in circulating peripheral macrophages and epithe­lioid cells of the host’s immune systems (Brindley et al. 2021). Subsequent to epithelial injury and an immune response against these parasites, pro-inflammatory cytokines and transforming growth factors activate fibroblasts, and prote­ases and metalloproteinases are released (which induce changes in the extracellular matrix and oxidative stress) leading to further injury and fibrosis of the biliary tract. This is the initial step in a multistep process that involves the transformation from hyperplasia to dysplasia and eventually carcinogenesis (Sala et al. 2020; Zhao et al. 2021).
Viral Infections
The persistent infection with Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) viruses contributes to the pathogenesis of BTC. The prevalence of chronic viral infections coincides with the
highest prevalence of CCA, which we see in Southeast Asia when compared to Western countries (UK, USA, Denmark, Norway, and the Czech Republic) (Wang et al. 2017). The prev­alence of HBV and HCV in southeast Asia is 9.1% and 3.6% respectively; when looking at specific countries in this region, China (HBV 12%; HCV 3%), and Korea (HBV 12%; HCV 2%) were all higher when compared to western counterparts (Alberts et al. 2022). Multiple studies have highlighted that chronic HCV infection increases the risk of iCCA by two-fold (HR: 2.6; 95% CI: 1.3–5.0) (Marcano-Bonilla et al. 2016) and that HCV infection is associated with a six-fold odds ratio (OR) increase in developing iCCA, whilst eCCA risk is unchanged (Clements et al. 2020). When assessing the risk associated with chronic HBV, there is a clear increased risk of developing iCCA (RR: 3.4; 95% CI: 2.5–43.7) when compared to those without HBV (Fragkou et al. 2021; Marcano-Bonilla et al. 2016). A meta-analysis looking at the prevalence of HBV in regions of both high and low incidences of hepato-pancreaticobiliary malignancies, concluded that chronic HBV infection was asso­ciated with an increased risk for iCCA (Bridgewater et al.
2014). The association between HBV and CCA was stronger in Asian countries (OR: 6.0) compared to Western countries (OR:
4.0) (Marcano-Bonilla et al. 2016). Cirrhosis subsequent of HBV or HCV persistent infections increases the risk for iCCA, by 3-fold in HBV patients, and 3.2-fold in HCV patients (Pinter et al. 2016). In co-infections with both HBV and HCV and an established cirrhosis, the risk of iCCA significantly increases to just over 10-fold, hence there is a clear and strong association between viral hepatitis and CCA (Wang et al. 2017).
Bacterial Infections
Certain bacterial infections of the biliary system occur due to translocation through disruptions of the intestinal mucosa (Masia and Misdraji 2018). Bacterial pathogens like Salmonella enterica subspecies, including S. typhi, a gram-negative bacterial path­ogen, can spread to the gallbladder via the vasculature or through the bile ducts from the liver via the enterohepatic circulation (Sharma et al. 2022). Several studies have shown that chronic car­riers of S. typhi have an increased risk of GBC (Gunn et al. 2014; Koshiol et al. 2016). The presence of chronic bacterial infection of similar bacterial pathogens such as the above permits chronic and persistent inflammation of the biliary epithelium, which can often potentiate carcinogenesis within the biliary epithelia through initial hyperplasia, then dysplasia and to the development of either GBC or other BTCs (Espinoza et al. 2016).
Helicobacters are gram-negative bacteria with a characteristic helical shape which can act as an infectious carcinogen. Specific species of helicobacter have been identified within the GI tract and biliary tract systems in certain hepatobiliary diseases (Kusters et al. 2006). Similar to the pathogenesis of biliary and gallbladder malignancies with S. typhi as the infectious carcin­ogen, studies have shown that H. pylori behaves like S.typhi in
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the development of biliary and gallbladder malignancies through the promotion, propagation, and maintenance of inflammation, development of hyperplasia of biliary epithelial cells which can then develop into dysplasia and eventual biliary malignancy (Cherif et al. 2019). Virulence factor CagA which is produced by H. pylori is an oncoprotein that interferes with signal transduction pathways including activation of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-B) signaling pathway. NF-B sig­naling induces cellular expression of the pro-angiogenic vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) which is implicated in BTC and GBC development (Ito et al. 2020; Stein et al. 2013). The oncoprotein also promotes the host immune response to Helicobacter antigens in the form of an inflammatory response with a milieu of cytokines and other inflammatory mediators (Segura-López et al. 2015). Numerous studies have supported the conclusion of clear associations between H. pylori and the development of hepatobiliary cancers, including BTCs and GBCs (Makkar et al. 2020).
Biliary Tree Structural Abnormalities
Certain anatomical defects are also associated with an increased risk for CCA and GBC. Choledochal cysts (bile-filled sacs along the common bile duct) and Caroli’s disease (rare congenital fibro-polycystic dilations within the large intrahepatic bile ducts) both contribute to the increased risk of the development of iCCA (Jabłońska 2012; Ye et al. 2022). Caroli’s disease increases the risk of developing CCA by 100-fold when compared to the general population (Fahrner et al. 2020). In respect to cases of congenital choledochal cysts, these cysts often develop in an abnormal pan­creaticobiliary junction (APBJ) in 90% of cases of congenital choledochal cysts. The APBJ is a rare anatomical variation, this results in the main pancreatic duct draining directly into the common bile duct (Baison et al. 2019). This can potentiate chronic and prolonged exposure and irritation of the biliary epi­thelium by pancreatic juice (which contains digestive enzymes including trypsinogen, elastase, carboxypeptidase, lipases, amy­lase) (Kamisawa et al. 2017). The resulting chronic inflammation promotes the carcinogenesis of both GBC and BTCs. Studies identified however that APBJs more commonly underly cases of GBC than CCA (Hu and Lim 2022).
Gallstones and Hepatolithiasis
Gallstones are a common risk factor for the development of GBC. Cholesterol and pigment gallstones are synthesized within the gallbladder and can cause chronic inflammation via chronic cholecystitis, although the exact mechanism by which gallstones predispose GBC is still unknown. About 80% of peo­ple with GBC present with gallstones during diagnosis, how­ever, the majority of patients with gallstones do not develop GBC (Stinton and Shaffer 2012). The association of gallstones with CCA is less well established than the association of
gallstones with GBC, however, the association of bile duct stones or hepatolithiasis with CCA is quite strong and can be due to chronic inflammation of the bile duct (Kirstein and Vogel 2016). Hepatolithiasis is a well-known associated risk factor for CCA development, particularly in parts of South­East Asia (Kim et al. 2015). Studies have highlighted that one of the highest associated risks between CCA and hepatolithiasis is in Japan (Cardinale et al. 2010). Hepatolithiasis are caused by persistent portal bacteremia and associated vessel phlebitis. Their presence leads to obstruction of the intrahepatic biliary ducts causing bile stasis and reflux, therefore increasing the risk of cholangitis and bile stricture formation (Jarnagin and Winston 2005). This chronic inflammatory process drives the development of CCA (Khan et al. 2019).
A recent 30-year follow-up study concluded that BTC risks were significantly higher in patients who had both gallstones and cholecystitis, in regards to developing GBC (OR = 34.3, 95% CI 19.9–59.2) (Hsing et al. 2007). The type of gallstone can delineate the likelihood of the occurrence of either BTC or GBC. A study underlined that patients with bile duct cancer were more likely to have pigment stones, and patients with GBC to have cholesterol stones (Portincasa et al. 2019). Overall, gallstones were associated with a higher risk of cancers of the hepatopancreaticobiliary system.
Porcelain Gallbladder
The porcelain gallbladder is associated with an increased risk of developing GBC. A porcelain gallbladder is a condition whereby the wall of the gallbladder becomes covered with calcium deposits. This can also occur as a result of chronic recurrent cholecystitis caused by gallstones (Calomino et al.
2021). Patients with porcelain gallbladder have a higher risk of developing gallbladder cancer likely due to persistent inflam­mation associated with the pathogenesis in the development of this condition (Morimoto et al. 2021).
Gallbladder Polyps
A gallbladder polyp is essentially an exophytic growth from within the inner surface of the gallbladder wall. The constitu­ents of some of the polyps are directly formed from cholesterol deposits lining the gallbladder wall, some of the polyps are derived from inflammation, and the remaining polyps are a benign or malignant aggregation of biliary epithelium (Andrén­Sandberg 2012). Large polyps (>1cm) are likely to be cancerous and often the recommendation is for cholecystectomy for polyps of this size or larger (Kalbi et al. 2021).
Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), is the most well-known associated risk factor concerning CCA. PSC is an autoimmune