A tumour score with multidetector spiral CT for venous infiltration in pancreatic cancer: influence on borderline resectable.

Purpose: A tumour score for venous invasion in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma was evaluated by means of computed tomography (CT), in order to improve the assessment of medical treatment and clinical outcome with special attention to borderline resectable disease.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-six consecutive patients who underwent curative surgical resection for pancreatic cancer were analysed. On the basis of CT criteria, tumour involvement of the portal vein (PV) and superior mesenteric vein (SMV) was graded according to an adapted 4-point scale: score 1, definite absence of invasion; score 2, probable absence of invasion; score 3, probable presence of invasion; score 4, definite presence of invasion.

Changes in miR-143 and miR-21 expression and clinicopathological correlations in pancreatic cancers.

Objectives: Despite advances in clinical management of pancreatic cancer (PC), there is still room for improvement in early detection, diagnosis, and treatment strategies. The role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in tumor biology might pinpoint an alteration in expression of miRNAs as new diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers.

Methods: Expression levels of miR-143 and miR-21 and correlations with clinicopathological features were analyzed in 26 matched pairs of tumor and adjacent noncancerous tissue samples collected from patients with PCs, including 18 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs) and 8 adenocarcinomas of Vater's papilla (PVACs).

Mirna expression profiles identify drivers in colorectal and pancreatic cancers.

Background And Aim: Altered expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) hallmarks many cancer types. The study of the associations of miRNA expression profile and cancer phenotype could help identify the links between deregulation of miRNA expression and oncogenic pathways.

Methods: Expression profiling of 866 human miRNAs in 19 colorectal and 17 pancreatic cancers and in matched adjacent normal tissues was investigated.

R2 resection in pancreatic cancer--does it make sense?

Background: The goal of surgical treatment in patients with pancreatic cancer is the complete resection of tumor tissue; however, the intraoperative appraisal of resectability can be difficult. Extensive surgical exploration for definitive clear resectability may lead to R2 resections in single cases.

Patients: We analyzed 38 patients with pancreatic cancer with remaining macroscopic tumor tissue after pancreatic resection, as R0 resection was not possible.

Up-regulation of p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) is associated with apoptosis in chronic pancreatitis.

Activation of apoptosis in chronic pancreatitis has been demonstrated. The low-affinity neurotrophin receptor p75 (p75NTR) mediates apoptosis in many cell types in vivo and in vitro. The aim of this study was to examine whether p75NTR is involved in the apoptotic process in chronic pancreatitis.