Glycomic and proteomic profiling of pancreatic cyst fluids identifies hyperfucosylated lactosamines on the N-linked glycans of overexpressed glycoproteins.

Pancreatic cancer is now the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, and it is associated with an alarmingly low 5-year survival rate of 5%. However, a patient's prognosis is considerably improved when the malignant lesions are identified at an early stage of the disease and removed by surgical resection. Unfortunately, the absence of a practical screening strategy and clinical diagnostic test for identifying premalignant lesions within the pancreas often prevents early detection of pancreatic cancer.