[Minimal residual disease in pancreatic cancer--our first experiences]

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive malignity with the statistically shown an upward trend and a very poor prognosis. The causes we follow up in the local recurrence and in the early dissemination, either through hematogenic or lymphogenic way. Conventional methods are not able to capture these cells, just the modern molecular-biological methods make possible to fix the so-called minimal residual disease, that is the presence of isolated tumor cells in the patient's body.

The study included 52 patients operated on the Clinic of Surgery I. in the University Hospital Olomouc for pancreatic cancer in different stages. QRT-PCR method was determined expression of hTERT, EGFR 1 and CEA both in peripheral blood, portal blood, bone marrow, peritoneal lavage and the tumor itself.

The results of this pilot study demonstrated a high sensitivity and specificity of the PCR method for detection of circulating tumor cells in patients with pancreatic cancer, extending this methodology, we are able to provide prognostic value of minimal residual disease and its significance for the indication of radical surgery for pancreatic cancer.