Plasma thymidine kinase activity as a prognostic biomarker in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: a single-center prospective study.

TKa in combination with CA19-9 outperforms each marker individually for prediction of survival. Overall survival is longer in patients with both TKa <931 Du/L and CA19-9 < 37. Further studies of TKa levels at different disease stages and correlation to outcome is warranted to find the full potential clinical usage of the TKa marker in PDAC.