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Expression of heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor in pancreatic adenocarcinoma
Y Ito1, S Higashiyama, T Takeda
1Department of Surgery, Osaka Seamen's Insurance Hospital, Japan.
Background:
Previous studies demonstrated that heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) contributes to carcinogenesis and carcinoma progression. In this study, we investigated its expression in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Methods:
We immunohistochemically investigated the expression of HB-EGF in 40 cases of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Results:
HB-EGF was only occasionally and faintly expressed in normal and hyperplastic pancreas duct epithelia. In pancreatic adenocarcinoma, 22 (55.0%) of the 40 cases were classified as positive for HB-EGF. Its expression was more frequently observed in cases with a low Ki-67 labeling index, well differentiated. early stage, small size, without lymph node metastasis and low EGF-R expression.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that HB-EGF mainly plays a role in early phase of the progression of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.