Does neoplastic gastrin expression remodel the embryonal pattern of the protein? A study in human pancreas

To determine the immunoreactivity of gastrin during the development of the human fetal pancreas and ductal pancreatic adenocarcinoma, given that, gastrin positive cells were demonstrated either into its embryonic anlage or into pancreatic cancer.

Tissue sections from 15 pancreatic fetal specimens, and an equal number of ductal adenocarcinoma specimens, were assessed using immunohistochemical methods for gastrin.

The density of positive cells in the primitive exocrine ductal walls and outgrowing buds was significantly higher than the relevant density in the neoplastic pancreatic tissue of mixed (ductal endocrine) and pure ductal type (p1=0.017, p2<0.0001, p3<0.0001 and p4=0.019, respectively). The above values were estimated from 20-22 weeks of gestation. There was no significant difference in the density of positive cells in the islet cell epithelium from 25-30 weeks, and the neoplastic tissue of mixed (p5=0.24) and pure ductal type (p6=0.55).

The immunostaining for gastrin identifies a subgroup of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas with a neuroendocrine component (initially considered as pure ductal tumors), and mixed ductal-endocrine tumors. This pattern of expression in neoplasms recapitulates the normal pattern during the embryonal development of the organ, and may be important for the development of new therapeutic approaches with eventual clinical utility.