Detection of the pancreas-specific gene in the peripheral blood of patients with pancreatic carcinoma

Abstract

SummaryThe prognosis of patients with pancreatic carcinoma remains very poor. To improve the therapeutic results, the early detection of this cancer is needed. The present study was performed to detect the pancreas-specific gene, chymotrypsinogen, in the peripheral blood from patients with pancreatic carcinoma by using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in order to evaluate the clinical significance of this gene. Ten patients with pancreatic carcinoma, two with acute pancreatitis, three with chronic pancreatitis and ten control subjects were examined for the presence of chymotrypsinogen using RT-PCR techniques in the peripheral blood. To confirm that the chymotrypsinogen gene was expressed in a pancreas-specific manner, the expression of chymotrypsinogen in various types of human adult tissue was evaluated by RT-PCR. The specific band of the chymotrypsinogen gene was detected in the pancreas. Serial dilution studies demonstrated the chymotrypsinogen gene to be detected at a concentration of one pancreatic cell per 10 6 peripheral blood cells. Seven out of the ten (70%) patients with pancreatic carcinoma were found to be positive based on the RT-PCR findings. In contrast, no pancreasspecific gene was detected in the peripheral blood of any patients with acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis or the control subjects. Our observations show that the detection of the pancreatic specific gene, chymotrypsinogen, is therefore useful as a genetic diagnostic marker in pancreatic carcinoma.

A Colorimetric Method for Detection of K-ras Codon 12 Point Mutations in DNA Extracted from Tissue and Peripheral Blood in Pancreatic Disorders

“…The monitoring of K-ras 12 somatic mutation ratio values in DNA fractions derived from tissue biopsy and the CFPB could have potential utility in observations related to the metastatic process known as micrometastasis (Tada et al 1993;Kuroki et al 1999;Koike et al 2002;Mataki et al 2004). This possibility warrants further investigation.…”

Identification of pancreatic juice proteins as biomarkers of pancreatic cancer

“…CTRB mRNA was detected in some of PC cell lines (SW1990 and PaTu8988). In a previous study, it was shown that mRNA of CTRB gene could be detected in the peripheral blood of patients with pancreatic carcinoma as a genetic diagnostic marker (26). Further studies are needed to determine if the CTRB is a useful biomarker for PC.…”

Role of Hypermethylation on Carcinogenesis in the Pancreas

“…Arrows indicate transcription merase chain reaction technique to be a useful diagnostic tool for pancreatic cancer. 53,54 Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction is also an extremely sensitive assay which has the ability to detect a small number of circulating cancer cells in the peripheral blood. In fact, several studies have shown promoter hypermethylation in serum DNA in multiple tumor types to be a useful screening method for making an accurate diagnosis.…”