Tsai S, et al. - Researchers used novel approaches of systemic immune analysis to investigate whether immune mediators are different in the baseline serum of patients that developed early pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) metastasis vs patients without early metastatic progression. In patients with early metastatic progression, a transcriptome signature of innate type I IFN inflammation was recognized. A baseline transcriptome signature of TGFβ/IL10–regulated acute inflammation was found in patients without early metastatic progression. Patients with early metastasis exhibited a greater transcriptome index. In both patient groups, the cytokine index (CI) significantly differed. Findings revealed an association of PDAC metastasis with serum-induced transcriptional signatures. A new way to evaluate systemic cancer immunity is global assessment of serum cytokine concentrations as a CI.