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World J Gastroenterol. Dec 28, 2026; 32(48): 121570
Published online Dec 28, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.121570
Cadherin-17: A potential biomarker for early detection in pancreatic adenocarcinoma
William C Cho, Wing S Yu, Tsz C Hon, Elaine T Y Cheung, Xiao Q Wang, Dennis A Wong, Cesar S C Wong, Wah Cheuk, John M Luk
William C Cho, Department of Clinical Oncology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China
Wing S Yu, Tsz C Hon, Xiao Q Wang, Tiberias Technology (HK) Limited, Hong Kong SAR, China
Elaine T Y Cheung, Wah Cheuk, Department of Pathology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China
Dennis A Wong, John M Luk, Arbele Corp., Bellevue, WA 98005, United States
Cesar S C Wong, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China
Author contributions: Cho WC and Luk JM designed the research study; Yu WS and Hon TC performed the research; Cheung ETY, Cheuk W, Wang XQ, Wong DA, Wong CSC and Luk JM contributed resources; Cho WC, Yu WS and Hon TC analyzed the data; Cho WC and Yu WS wrote the manuscript; Cho WC and Luk JM review and edit the manuscript; and all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: We used ChatGPT solely to help with language polishing in some paragraphs. No AI tool was involved in data processing, figures, results, and discussion. All content is the original work of the authors.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Hospital Authority (Hong Kong, China) Research Ethics Committee (Approval No. KC/KE-23-0014/ER-2).
Informed consent statement: Given the retrospective design of this study, a waiver of participant informed consent was granted by the Research Ethics Committee of the Hospital Authority (Hong Kong, China).
Conflict-of-interest statement: Wing S Yu, Tsz C Hon, and Xiao Q Wang are current employees of Tiberias Technology (HK) Limited (Hong Kong, China). Dennis A Wong and John M Luk are current employees of Arbele Corp (Seattle, WA, United States). The other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Corresponding author: William C Cho, PhD, FIBMS (UK), Department of Clinical Oncology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
chocs@ha.org.hk
Received: March 27, 2026
Revised: April 18, 2026
Accepted: June 26, 2026
Published online: December 28, 2026
Processing time: 221 Days and 6 Hours
BACKGROUND
The early detection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains a major clinical challenge.
AIM
To evaluate cadherin-17 (CDH17) as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for this malignancy.
METHODS
CDH17 expression was assessed in pancreatic tissue samples using immunohistochemistry quantified by the M-score method. This included 25 paired tumor and normal adjacent tissues, along with 22 healthy controls. Plasma levels of soluble CDH17 were measured in 242 samples (28 patients pre/post-treatment, 156 healthy controls) using an in-house immunoassay and compared to carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9).
RESULTS
In tissue samples, CDH17 expression was significantly higher in cancer tissues compared to both normal adjacent tissues (P = 0.0005) and healthy controls (P = 0.000001). Analysis of 242 plasma samples showed that soluble CDH17 could distinguish early-stage cancer patients from healthy controls with 86% sensitivity and 86% specificity (area under the curve = 0.920). By contrast, CA19-9 demonstrated diagnostic value only in late-stage disease (area under the curve = 0.813). Prognostically, elevated CA19-9 was significantly associated with shorter survival (P = 0.0002), while patients with a high-CDH17/low-CA19-9 profile appeared to have more favorable outcomes in hypothesis-generating subgroup analyses.
CONCLUSION
CDH17 is consistently upregulated in pancreatic adenocarcinoma and it shows potential as a complementary biomarker to CA19-9, particularly for improving early detection. These findings warrant validation in larger, prospective cohorts.
Core Tip: In this pilot study, cadherin-17 (CDH17) was markedly upregulated in pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissue, and its soluble form in plasma distinguished early-stage patients from healthy controls with 86% sensitivity and specificity. These findings point to the biomarker panel consisting of CDH17 and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 offers a possible strategy to address the pressing need for both earlier detection and monitoring disease burden in this malignancy.
