Abstract

BACKGROUND
Our aim was to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the expression of key molecular markers in a series of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas and to determine their association with clinicopathologic variables.
METHODS
By using immunohistochemical staining, we examined the expressions of five tumor suppressor genes (p53, p21WAF1, p16, Rb, Smad4) and a growth factor receptor (c-erbB-2) in 52 surgically resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas.
RESULTS
Abnormal nuclear overexpression of p53 was noted in 28/52 (53.8%) cases. Total loss of p21WAF1, p16, Rb, and Smad4 was detected in 15/52 (28.8%), 33/52 (63.5%), 4/52 (7.7%), and 26/52 (50%) cases, respectively. Overexpression of c-erbB-2 was noted in 21/52 (40.4%) cases. Forty-nine (94.2%) cases revealed aberration of at least one of the markers examined. There was a positive correlation between p53 and c-erbB-2 overexpression (p<0.05). Among the examined genes, overexpression of c-erbB-2 was found to have a positive relationship with the tumor stage (p<0.05). There was also a significant correlation between the histologic grade and the number of abnormally expressed genes per tumor (p<0.05).
CONCLUSION
Among the various tumor-associated proteins evaluated in this study, c-erbB-2 could have the most likely clinical implication.

• Keywords: Carcinoma;Pancreatic Ductal;Genes;Tumor suppressor;Receptor;erbB-2;Immunohistochemistry