Long intergenic non-protein coding RNA, p53 induced transcript (Linc-pint) is a 
long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) that regulates tumor cell viability and 
proliferation. We used qRT-PCR and RNA FISH analysis to evaluate Linc-pint 
levels in the plasma and tumor tissues of pancreatic cancer (PCa) patients. Our 
data demonstrate that Linc-pint expression is lower in plasma samples from PCa 
patients than from healthy individuals, and indicate that plasma Linc-pint 
levels are more sensitive than CA19-9 for detecting PCa. Our data also show that 
Linc-pint levels are lower in PCa tumors than in adjacent tissues, carcinoma of 
the ampulla of Vater (CAV) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), and suggest that 
Linc-pint could be used for distinguishing the cause of malignant obstructive 
jaundice. Low plasma Linc-pint levels correlate with tumor recurrence, while low 
tumor Linc-pint levels correlate with poor prognosis for PCa patients after 
pancreatectomy. These results thus indicate that low plasma Linc-pint expression 
could serve as a minimally invasive biomarker for early PCa detection, and that 
low Linc-pint levels in PCa tumors could be used for predicting patient 
prognosis.