title: Molecular characterization of pancreatic neoplasms.
abstract: Molecular analyses of neoplasms of the pancreas, coupled with careful histopathologic examination has helped refine the classification of pancreatic neoplasia. A number of molecularly and histologically distinct subtypes of pancreatic neoplasms have been identified and, importantly, many of these subtypes have important clinical implications. For example, most of the solid-pseudopapillary neoplasms harbor mutations in the beta-catenin gene (CTNNB1), and, as a result, most solid-pseudopapillary neoplasms have an abnormal nuclear pattern of labeling with antibodies to the beta-catenin protein. Clinically, patients with a solid-pseudopapillary neoplasm have a much better prognosis than do patients with ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Therefore, the immunolabeling of a pancreatic biopsy for the beta-catenin protein can help identify patients with low-risk neoplasms. It is clear that the time is now ripe for a new modern classification of neoplasms of the pancreas; a classification that does not abandon gross and microscopic pathology, but which instead integrates molecular findings with gross, microscopic, and clinical findings.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, The Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Chanjuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Jason A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.forename: Ralph H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Hruban
mesh_terms: D052138:Genes, Neoplasm; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010179:Pancreas / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D011379:Prognosis; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051176:beta Catenin