Keio University

Discovery of a New Pancreatic Cancer Development Pathway through Genetic Mutation Analysis: Hopes for Pancreatic Cancer Risk Assessment and Treatment Development

Publish: November 15, 2018
Public Relations Office

2018/11/15

Asahikawa Medical University

Sapporo Higashi Tokushukai Hospital

Teine Keijinkai Hospital

Hokkaido University

Tohoku University

Tokyo Medical University

Keio University School of Medicine

Genomedia Inc.

Highlights of this Research

  • Elucidated the mechanism by which pancreatic cancer develops from pancreatic cysts.

  • Discovered a new pathway from benign lesions to cancer based on patterns of genetic abnormalities.

  • Expected to improve the accuracy of diagnosis for predicting the development of pancreatic cancer in patients with pancreatic cysts.

A research team led by Associate Professor Yusuke Mizukami of the Department of Internal Medicine at Asahikawa Medical University, Assistant Professor Yuko Omori of the Department of Tumor Pathology at Hokkaido University (currently the Department of Anatomic Pathology at Tohoku University), and Principal Investigator Yusuke Ono of the Medical Research Institute at Sapporo Higashi Tokushukai Hospital has discovered a new carcinogenesis pathway. In the formation of pancreatic cancer in patients with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), a type of tumorous cyst that forms in the pancreas, this pathway involves precursor lesions—which are in an intermediate state between benign and malignant—evolving by branching into lesions with diverse properties and characteristics.

The results of this research were published in the online edition of the American scientific journal "Gastroenterology" on October 17, ahead of their publication in the February 2019 issue.

Please see below for the full press release.

Press Release (PDF)