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World J Gastroenterol. Jun 28, 2006; 12(24): 3878-3882
Published online Jun 28, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i24.3878
Overexpression of c-met in the early stage of pancreatic carcinogenesis; altered expression is not sufficient for progression from chronic pancreatitis to pancreatic cancer
Jun Yu, Kenoki Ohuchida, Kazuhiro Mizumoto, Nami Ishikawa, Yasuhiro Ogura, Daisuke Yamada, Takuya Egami, Hayato Fujita, Seiji Ohashi, Eishi Nagai, Masao Tanaka
Jun Yu, Kenoki Ohuchida, Kazuhiro Mizumoto, Nami Ishikawa, Yasuhiro Ogura, Daisuke Yamada, Takuya Egami, Hayato Fujita, Seiji Ohashi, Eishi Nagai, Masao Tanaka, Department of Surgery and Oncology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, Research Fellowships of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists, and a grant from the Japanese Foundation for Research and Promotion of Endoscopy
Correspondence to: Dr. Kazuhiro Mizumoto, Department of Surgery and Oncology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan. mizumoto@med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-92-642-5440 Fax: +81-92-642-5458
Received: March 3, 2006
Revised: March 20, 2006
Accepted: March 27, 2006
Published online: June 28, 2006
Abstract

AIM: To investigate c-met expression during early pancreatic carcinogenesis.

METHODS: We used 46 bulk tissues and 36 micro-dissected samples, including normal pancreas, chronic pancreatitis, and pancreatic cancer, for quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS: In bulk tissue analyses, pancreatic cancer tissues expressed significantly higher levels of c-met than did chronic pancreatitis and normal pancreas tissues. c-met levels did not differ between chronic pancreatitis and normal pancreas tissues. In microdissection-based analyses, c-met was expressed at higher levels in microdissected pancreatic cancer cells and pancreatitis-affected epithelial cells than in normal ductal epithelial cells (both, P < 0.01). Interestingly, pancreatitis-affected epithelial cells expressed levels of c-met similar to those of pancreatic cancer cells.

CONCLUSION: Overexpression of c-met occurs during the early stage of pancreatic carcinogenesis, and a single alteration of c-met expression is not sufficient for progression of chronic pancreatitis-affected epithelial cells to pancreatic cancer cells.

Keywords: c-met; Pancreatic cancer; Chronic pancrea-titis; Pancreatic carcinogenesis