| Summary: | Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancer diseases with a relatively high mortality rate. The higher mortality rate of pancreatic cancer is normally a result of late diagnosis. Early diagnosis and detection are quintessential to the survival of pancreatic cancer patients. However, diagnosis of pancreatic cancer at early stages is extremely challenging and difficult by the use of available biomarkers and serological markers. Sometimes this could be due to the fact that pancreatic cancer might not be responsible for signs and symptoms and consequently, the patients could ignore and might not seek medical attention until cancer develops and spreads to other surrounding organs. This late diagnosis of cancer in advanced stages is usually the major cause of a negative prognosis. This paper seeks to critically analyze the treatment on the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and the advancements of diagnostic tools and therapies. The conclusion of this paper is that advances in biomarkers for early diagnosis can greatly help patients with pancreatic cancer. In particular, the marker CA19-9, due to its high level of expression in human malignant, benign reactive and metaplastic pancreatic ducts, plays a very important role in the early diagnosis and monitoring of pancreatic cancer.
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