title: Ki-67 and c-jun expression in pancreatic cancer: a prognostic marker?
abstract: The proto-oncogene c-jun is involved in cell proliferation and Ki-67 antigen permits determination of the proportion of proliferating tumour cells. The expression of c-jun and Ki-67 in pancreatic cancer and their relation with tumour histological features and patients survival were evaluated. Specimens were obtained as follows: 14 pancreatic cancer from patients radically operated, 8 liver metastases from subjects submitted to palliation, 5 normal pancreas from organs donors and 5 chronic pancreatitis. Ki-67 and c-jun were studied by immunohistochemistry. The percentage of tumour cells stained for c-jun was increased in 11/14 cases. A high c-jun expression was more frequently found in liver metastases than in pancreatic cancer tissue (p=0.031). The frequency of high c-jun expression was more elevated in short-term as compared to long-term survivors (Fisher's exact test, p=0.031 and log-rank, p=0.03). The percentage of tumour positive cells for Ki-67 showed a mean value of 12.8% in primary pancreatic cancer and was lower than in the liver metastases (32.5%) (p=0.029). Significantly lower values were found in long-term (6.5%) as compared to the short-term survivors (18.1%) (p=0.032 and log-rank, p=0.006). A positive relation was demonstrated with stage (p<0.05), lymph node state (p=0.045) and perineural invasion (p=0.0001). In the multivariate analysis the Ki-67 staining was the most important determinant of long-term survival (p=0.005). c-jun and Ki-67 are overexpressed in pancreatic carcinoma, but only Ki-67 is a strong predictive factor.
authors.affiliation: Cattedra Malattie Apparato Digerente, I-35128 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferrara
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tessari
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poletti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giacon
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meggiato
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martines
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Del Favero
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Naccarato
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D011379:Prognosis; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun