Resumen
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the worst prognostic cancers, for which clinically valuable prognostic factors and individualized biomarker-driven cancer therapies are still lacking. Recent studies have shed some light on the crucial relationship between genomic instability and PDAC progression, which can be harnessed for the cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and personalized treatment. We therefore tested the hypothesis that differences in the expression of cyclin F, RRM2, and SPLD1, i.e., proteins being implicated in maintaining genomic stability, could account for differences in clinical outcome among PDAC patients. Here, we have shown for the first time that overexpression of SPDL1 protein is a potent independent prognostic factor associated with a better survival of PDAC patients. In turn, CCNF, RRM2, and SPDL1 mRNAs are independent prognostic markers for a poor survival, both by themselves and even more in combination with each other. These biomarkers may have a potential clinical utility in the management of this deadly disease.