Fas and Fas ligand expression in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Introduction: Fas and Fas ligand (FasL) mediate apoptosis of tumor cells in immune surveillance, and expression of FasL by tumors may mediate their counterattack on cytotoxic lymphocytes. Both proteins are expressed in most if not all pancreatic carcinoma cell lines, but their study in primary human tumors has been limited.

Aim: We performed Fas and FasL immunohistochemical staining on 81 primary pancreaticobiliary or ampullary ductal adenocarcinomas of patients in our institutional database to determine the extent and strength of staining.