title: K-ras gene mutation in the diagnosis of ultrasound guided fine-needle biopsy of pancreatic masses.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the utility of K-ras mutation analysis of ultrasound guided fine-needle aspirate biopsy of pancreatic masses.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-six ultrasound guided fine-needle biopsies were evaluated by cytology, histology and k-ras mutation. The mutation at codon 12 of the k-ras oncogene was detected by artificial restriction fragment length polymorphisms using Bst NI approach.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The presence of malignant cells was reported in 40 of 54 pancreatic carcinomas and K-ras mutations were detected in 45 of the 54 FNABs of pancreatic carcinomas. The sensitivity of cytology and k-ras mutation were 74 % and 83 %, respectively. The specialty of cytology and k-ras mutation were both 100 %. The sensitivity and specialty of k-ras mutation combined with cytology were 83 % and 100 %, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High diagnostic accuracy with acceptable discomfort of FNAB make it useful in diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma. Ultrasound guided fine-needle biopsy is a safe and feasible method for diagnosing pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic carcinoma has the highest K-ras mutation rate among all solid tumors. The mutation rate of k-ras is about 80-100 %. The usage of mutation of codon 12 of k-ras oncogene combined with cytology is a good alternative for evaluation of pancreatic masses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, the First Clinical College, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Lian-Xin
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: An-Long
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Shu-Yi
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Hong-Chi
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Zhu-Ying
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D011905:Genes, ras; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D010179:Pancreas / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014463:Ultrasonography