Immunohistochemical expression of receptor-tyrosine kinase c-kit protein in invasive ductal carcinoma of the pancreas.

The expression of receptor tyrosine kinase c-kit and its biologic significance in pancreatic cancer are unclear. We studied the expression of c-kit protein (c-KIT) in resectable invasive ductal carcinomas (IDCs) of the pancreas, in order to assess whether a selective c-kit inhibitor, STI571 (Glivec), may be applied for the treatment of pancreatic IDCs. This study included 72 pancreatic IDC patients who received a pancreatectomy between 1982 and 2002. The expression of c-KIT was analyzed retrospectively by immunohistochemistry. c-KIT was expressed in 78% (56/72) of the pancreatic IDCs. c-KIT expression did not correlate with any clinicopathological factor of pancreatic IDC and c-KIT expression had no significant influence on the survival of the patients. The survival rate of the adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) (+) group was significantly higher than that of the ACT (-) group, but c-KIT expression had no significant effects on the efficacy of the ACT. Multivariate analysis indicated that the pTNM stage, grade and ACT were all significant variables for survival in IDCs overall. As c-KIT was expressed in 78% of the pancreatic IDCs, it suggests that STI571 may be a beneficial agent for chemotherapy against human pancreatic IDCs.