Abstract
The differential diagnosis of biliary stenosis is a critical problem for gastroenterologists. An early identification of malignant lesions would enable the rapid resort to surgical resection which currently represents the only potentially curative option. Unfortunately, the diagnostic value of all available methods (e.g. imaging technics, standard serum biomarkers) is limited by relatively poor accuracy and negative predictive value. Recently, our group and others highlighted new potential cancer biomarkers in bile by using comparative proteomic analysis. Nevertheless, to date, only a few candidates have been verified for their diagnostic performances in discriminating between malignant and non-malignant stenoses. In addition, no data have yet been collected on the simultaneous measurement of these proteins with the intent of evaluating the diagnostic interest of a panel of biomarkers.
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