Detection of point mutations in the Kirsten-ras oncogene provides evidence for the multicentricity of pancreatic carcinoma.
It has been reported that multicentricity of pancreatic carcinomas extending beyond the pancreatic duct occur in 15% to 40% of patients. This has been difficult to confirm, however, with currently available histologic techniques. Mutations in the Kirsten (Ki)-ras oncogene, which can be detected frequently in pancreatic carcinomas using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), may serve as a potential clonal marker of the cancer cells. Fifty-three patients with a histopathologic diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma were selected for the determination of certain Ki-ras mutations through PCR. The authors identified mutations in the Ki-ras codon 12 in 46 of 53 tumors. Two of these 46 tumors had two different mutations to aspartic acid (GAT) and to valine (GTT) in Ki-ras codon 12. Another isolate had an additional mutation in Ki-ras codon 13. The detection of different mutations in the same tumor suggests that there may be multicentricity in pancreatic carcinomas and that its frequency may be as low as 6% of the carcinomas. These results imply that total pancreatectomy for eliminating tumor recurrence due to multicentricity may not be warranted.
Motojima
K
K
Second Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
Urano
T
T
Nagata
Y
Y
Shiku
H
H
Tsurifune
T
T
Kanematsu
T
T
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000601:surgery; D000368:Aged; D003062:Codon / Q000235:genetics*; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D011905:Genes, ras / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010180:Pancreatectomy; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000601:surgery; D017354:Point Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
D003062:Codon; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm