• R Talar-Wojnarowska, A Gasiorowska, B Smolarz, H Romanowicz-Makowska, J Strzelczyk, A Janiak, A Kulig, and E Malecka-Panas.
• Department of Digestive Tract Diseases, Medical University, Lodz, Poland. r-wojnarowska@wp.pl
• J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 2004 Jul 1; 55 Suppl 2: 129-38.

BackgroundThe differentiation of chronic pancreatitis (CP) from pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PA) remains a great challenge. The purpose of the study was to compare the prevalence of p16 and K-ras mutation in PA and CP in order to evaluate their usefulness in differential diagnosis of those diseases.MethodsThe study included 44 patients who underwent Whipple resection or distal pancreatectomy for PA (23 subjects) or CP (21 subjects). DNA from pancreatic tissue was analysed for K-ras mutation (codon 12) and p16 mutations with PCR amplifications.ResultsThe K-ras gene mutation has been shown in 17 (73,9%) cases with pancreatic adenocarcinoma which was significantly more often than in chronic pancreatitis - 9 (42,8%) (p<0,01). Prevalence of p16 mutations in patients with PA was 18 (78,3%) and with CP - 7 (33,3%) (p<0,01). K-ras and p16 mutations together have been observed in 16 (69,6%) cases in patients with PC and only in 3 (14,3%) - with CP (p<0,01). No statistically significant association between K-ras or p16 mutations and tumor size, sex or patient age has been observed.ConclusionIt is suggested that simultaneous measurement of K-ras and p16 mutations may provide an additional tool in differential diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

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