Method of evaluating pancreatic cancer, pancreatic cancer-evaluating apparatus, pancreatic cancer-evaluating method, pancreatic cancer-evaluating program product, pancreatic cancer-evaluating system, and information communication terminal apparatus

Abstract

A method of evaluating pancreatic cancer includes (I) an obtaining step of obtaining amino acid concentration data on a concentration value of an amino acid in blood collected from a subject to be evaluated, and (II) an evaluating step of evaluating a state of pancreatic cancer in the subject by calculating a value of a formula using the amino acid concentration data of the subject obtained at the obtaining step and the formula previously established for evaluating the state of pancreatic cancer, including an explanatory variable to be substituted with the concentration value of the amino acid. The amino acid concentration data includes the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln, and the formula includes at least two explanatory variables to be substituted with the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of evaluating pancreatic cancer, comprising:
 an obtaining step of obtaining amino acid concentration data on a concentration value of an amino acid in blood collected from a subject to be evaluated; and   an evaluating step of evaluating a state of pancreatic cancer in the subject by calculating a value of a formula using (i) the amino acid concentration data of the subject obtained at the obtaining step and (ii) the formula previously established for evaluating the state of pancreatic cancer, including an explanatory variable to be substituted with the concentration value of the amino acid,   wherein the amino acid concentration data includes the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln, and   the formula includes at least two explanatory variables to be substituted with the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln.   
     
     
         2 . The method of evaluating pancreatic cancer according to  claim 1 , wherein the state of pancreatic cancer is the degree of the possibility of being affected with pancreatic cancer, and
 evaluating the state of pancreatic cancer in the subject is evaluating the degree of the possibility that the subject is affected with pancreatic cancer.   
     
     
         3 . The method of evaluating pancreatic cancer according to  claim 2 , wherein a plurality of categories defined considering at least the degree of the possibility of being affected with pancreatic cancer, and one or more thresholds are previously established, and
 evaluating the degree of the possibility that the subject is affected with pancreatic cancer is classifying the subject into any one of the categories using the value of the formula and the threshold.   
     
     
         4 . The method of evaluating pancreatic cancer according to  claim 3 , wherein the categories include at least one category defined considering at least the degree of the possibility of being affected with pancreatic cancer and the degree of the possibility of being affected with a cancer other than pancreatic cancer. 
     
     
         5 . The method of evaluating pancreatic cancer according to  claim 3 , wherein the categories include a category to which a subject with a high possibility of being affected with pancreatic cancer belongs and a category to which a subject with a low possibility of being affected with pancreatic cancer belongs. 
     
     
         6 . The method of evaluating pancreatic cancer according to  claim 5 , wherein the category to which a subject with a low possibility of being affected with pancreatic cancer belongs is a healthy category to which a subject with a high possibility of being healthy belongs, other cancer category to which a subject with a high possibility of being affected with a cancer other than pancreatic cancer belongs, or a healthy/other cancer category to which a subject with a high possibility of being healthy and a subject with a high possibility of being affected with a cancer other than pancreatic cancer belong. 
     
     
         7 . The method of evaluating pancreatic cancer according to  claim 5 , wherein the category to which a subject with a low possibility of being affected with pancreatic cancer belongs includes a healthy category to which a subject with a high possibility of being healthy belongs and other cancer category to which a subject with a high possibility of being affected with a cancer other than pancreatic cancer belongs. 
     
     
         8 . The method of evaluating pancreatic cancer according to  claim 1 , wherein the formula is any one of a logistic regression equation, a fractional expression, a linear discriminant, a multiple regression equation, a formula prepared by a support vector machine, a formula prepared by a Mahalanobis' generalized distance method, a formula prepared by canonical discriminant analysis, and a formula prepared by a decision tree. 
     
     
         9 . A pancreatic cancer-evaluating apparatus comprising a control unit and a memory unit to evaluate a state of pancreatic cancer in a subject to be evaluated, wherein the control unit includes:
 an evaluating unit that evaluates the state of pancreatic cancer in the subject by calculating a value of a formula using (i) previously obtained amino acid concentration data of the subject on a concentration value of an amino acid and (ii) the formula previously stored in the memory unit for evaluating the state of pancreatic cancer, including an explanatory variable to be substituted with the concentration value of the amino acid,   wherein the amino acid concentration data includes the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln, and   the formula includes at least two explanatory variables to be substituted with the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln.   
     
     
         10 . A pancreatic cancer-evaluating method of evaluating a state of pancreatic cancer in a subject to be evaluated, which method is carried out with an information processing apparatus including a control unit and a memory unit, the method comprising:
 an evaluating step of evaluating the state of pancreatic cancer in the subject by calculating a value of a formula using (i) previously obtained amino acid concentration data of the subject on a concentration value of an amino acid and (ii) the formula previously stored in the memory unit for evaluating the state of pancreatic cancer, including an explanatory variable to be substituted with the concentration value of the amino acid,   wherein the amino acid concentration data includes the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln,   the formula includes at least two explanatory variables to be substituted with the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln, and   the evaluating step is executed by the control unit.   
     
     
         11 . A pancreatic cancer-evaluating program product having a non-transitory computer readable medium including programmed instructions for making an information processing apparatus including a control unit and a memory unit execute a method of evaluating a state of pancreatic cancer in a subject to be evaluated, the method comprising:
 an evaluating step of evaluating the state of pancreatic cancer in the subject by calculating a value of a formula using (i) previously obtained amino acid concentration data of the subject on a concentration value of an amino acid and (ii) the formula previously stored in the memory unit for evaluating the state of pancreatic cancer, including an explanatory variable to be substituted with the concentration value of the amino acid,   wherein the amino acid concentration data includes the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln,   the formula includes at least two explanatory variables to be substituted with the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln, and   the evaluating step is executed by the control unit.   
     
     
         12 . A pancreatic cancer-evaluating system comprising (I) a pancreatic cancer-evaluating apparatus including a control unit and a memory unit to evaluate a state of pancreatic cancer in a subject to be evaluated and (II) an information communication terminal apparatus including a control unit to provide amino acid concentration data of the subject on a concentration value of an amino acid that are connected to each other communicatively via a network, wherein
 the control unit of the information communication terminal apparatus includes:
 an amino acid concentration data-sending unit that transmits the amino acid concentration data of the subject to the pancreatic cancer-evaluating apparatus; and 
 an evaluation result-receiving unit that receives an evaluation result on the state of pancreatic cancer in the subject, transmitted from the pancreatic cancer-evaluating apparatus, and 
   the control unit of the pancreatic cancer-evaluating apparatus includes:
 an amino acid concentration data-receiving unit that receives the amino acid concentration data of the subject transmitted from the information communication terminal apparatus; 
 an evaluating unit that evaluates the state of pancreatic cancer in the subject by calculating a value of a formula using (i) the amino acid concentration data of the subject received by the amino acid concentration data-receiving unit and (ii) the formula previously stored in the memory unit for evaluating the state of pancreatic cancer, including an explanatory variable to be substituted with the concentration value of the amino acid; and 
 an evaluation result-sending unit that transmits the evaluation result of the subject obtained by the evaluating unit to the information communication terminal apparatus, 
   wherein the amino acid concentration data includes the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln, and   the formula includes at least two explanatory variables to be substituted with the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln.   
     
     
         13 . An information communication terminal apparatus comprising a control unit to provide amino acid concentration data of a subject to be evaluated on a concentration value of an amino acid, being connected communicatively via a network to a pancreatic cancer-evaluating apparatus that evaluates a state of pancreatic cancer in the subject, wherein the control unit includes:
 an amino acid concentration data-sending unit that transmits the amino acid concentration data of the subject to the pancreatic cancer-evaluating apparatus; and   an evaluation result-receiving unit that receives an evaluation result on the state of pancreatic cancer in the subject, transmitted from the pancreatic cancer-evaluating apparatus,   wherein the evaluation result is the result of (I) receiving the amino acid concentration data of the subject transmitted from the information communication terminal apparatus and (II) evaluating the state of pancreatic cancer in the subject by calculating a value of a formula using (i) the received amino acid concentration data of the subject and (ii) the formula previously stored in the pancreatic cancer-evaluating apparatus for evaluating the state of pancreatic cancer, including an explanatory variable to be substituted with the concentration value of the amino acid, wherein the (I) and (II) are executed by the pancreatic cancer-evaluating apparatus,   wherein the amino acid concentration data includes the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln, and   the formula includes at least two explanatory variables to be substituted with the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln.   
     
     
         14 . A pancreatic cancer-evaluating apparatus comprising a control unit and a memory unit to evaluate a state of pancreatic cancer in a subject to be evaluated, being connected communicatively via a network to an information communication terminal apparatus that provides amino acid concentration data of the subject on a concentration value of an amino acid, wherein the control unit includes:
 an amino acid concentration data-receiving unit that receives the amino acid concentration data of the subject transmitted from the information communication terminal apparatus;   an evaluating unit that evaluates the state of pancreatic cancer in the subject by calculating a value of a formula using (i) the amino acid concentration data of the subject received by the amino acid concentration data-receiving unit and (ii) the formula previously stored in the memory unit for evaluating the state of pancreatic cancer, including an explanatory variable to be substituted with the concentration value of the amino acid; and   an evaluation result-sending unit that transmits an evaluation result on the state of pancreatic cancer in the subject obtained by the evaluating unit to the information communication terminal apparatus,   wherein the amino acid concentration data includes the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln, and   the formula includes at least two explanatory variables to be substituted with the concentration values of at least two amino acids of Asn, His, Thr, Ala, Cit, Arg, Tyr, Val, Met, Lys, Trp, Gly, Pro, Orn, Ile, Leu, Phe, Ser, and Gln.