[Artemin and GFRalpha3 expressions and their relevance to perineural invasiveness and metastasis of pancreatic carcinoma].

Objective: To investigate the association of artemin and GFRalpha3 expressions with perineural invasion and metastasis of pancreatic carcinoma.

Methods: Semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression of artemin and GFRalpha3 in pancreatic carcinoma tissues, adjacent tissues and normal pancreas tissues, and the relevance of artemin and GFRalpha3 expressions to the perineural invasion and metastasis of pancreatic carcinoma were analyzed.

Results: The positivity rates of artemin and GFRalpha3 expressions were 72.