Expression and prognostic significance of unique ULBPs in pancreatic cancer

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancers worldwide, due to the lack of efficient therapy and difficulty in early diagnosis. ULBPs have been shown to behave as important protectors with prognostic significance in various cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used to explore the expression of ULBPs in cancer tissue and in serum, while survival analysis was used to evaluate the subsequent clinical value of ULBPs. RESULTS: Statistics showed that high expression of membrane ULBP1 was a good biomarker of overall survival (18 months vs 13 months), and a high level of soluble ULBP2 was deemed an independent poor indicator for both overall survival (P<0.001) and disease-free survival (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: ULBP1 provides additional information for early diagnosis, and soluble ULBP2 can be used as a novel tumor marker to evaluate the risk of pancreatic cancer patients.