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World J Gastroenterol. Jan 21, 2006; 12(3): 437-442
Published online Jan 21, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i3.437
Differential c-erbB-1 and c-erbB-2 mRNA expression in cancer of the pancreas compared with cancer of the papilla of Vater
Klaus L Prenzel, Ute Warnecke-Eberz, Jan Brabender, Stephan E Baldus, Elfriede Bollschweiler, Christian A Gutschow, Uta Drebber, Arnulf H Hoelscher, Paul M Schneider
Klaus L Prenzel, Ute Warnecke-Eberz, Jan Brabender, Elfriede Bollschweiler, Christian A Gutschow, Arnulf H Hoelscher, Paul M Schneider, Department of Visceral and Vascular Surgery, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
Stephan E Baldus, Uta Drebber, Institute of Pathology, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
Correspondence to: Klaus L Prenzel, MD, Department of Visceral and Vascular Surgery, University of Cologne, Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 9, 50931 Cologne, Germany. klausprenzel@hotmail.com
Telephone: +49-221-4785172 Fax: +49-221-4786259
Received: June 12, 2005
Revised: June 28, 2005
Accepted: July 15, 2005
Published online: January 21, 2006
Abstract

AIM: We examined quantitative mRNA expression of growth factor receptors (c-erbB-1, c-erbB-2) and the anti-apoptosis gene survivin known to be regulated in pancreatic adenocarcinomas and compared the expression pattern with that in carcinomas of the papilla of Vater.

METHODS: Quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR (QRT-PCR, TaqmanTM) was performed to analyze mRNA expression levels of c-erbB-1, c-erbB-2 and survivin in normal and corresponding tumor samples of 31 pancreatic adenocarcinomas and 8 cancers of the papilla of Vater.

RESULTS: The overall median mRNA expression of survivin was significantly increased in both adenocarcinoma of the pancreas (P<0.01) and papilla of Vater (P<0.008) compared with uninvolved normal control tissue. In pancreatic cancer, expression of c-erbB-1 was significantly decreased compared with the normal pancreatic tissue (P<0.03), whereas in the cancer of the papilla of Vater expression of c-erbB-2 was significantly downregulated (P<0.05) compared with the paired normal samples. Gene expression was not associated with tumor stage, differentiation or prognosis.

CONCLUSION: The common anti-apoptosis gene survivin is overexpressed both in the cancer of the papilla of Vater and pancreas. In contrast, the growth factor receptor genes c-erbB-1 and c-erbB-2 are differentially regulated in both tumor entities adding further evidence that pancreatic cancer is biologically different from the cancer of papilla of Vater.

Keywords: Pancreatic cancer; Ampullary cancer; Growth factor receptor; Gene expression; RT-PCR; Survivin