Is there a genetic gene for pancreatic cancer?

Paladin gene overexpression is also associated with the development of non-hereditary pancreatic cancer. Considering Paladin as a "pancreatic cancer gene" will help us understand the cellular process of pancreatic cancer from a molecular perspective, which will help and improve the treatment of this deadly disease.

Although the incidence of pancreatic cancer is low, it is often fatal. Most patients die within one year of diagnosis. It ranks fourth among cancer deaths in the United States. At least 10% of pancreatic cancer patients are believed to have familial genetic factors, such as genetic mutations, but the relevant genes have been unclear. Recently, a research team that has been searching for pancreatic cancer genes for many years has discovered this gene. Terry Brent of the University of Washington and David Whitcomb of the University of Pittsburgh announced that they found a gene mutation called Paladin in a large family study.

In four generations of this family, 18 members had pancreatic cancer or pancreatic precancer. In tracking the DNA segments that these patients shared but not present in healthy members, the researchers narrowed down the genes on chromosome 4 to a relatively small group of 243 known genes. They made gene segments that could measure the expression levels of these 243 candidate genes and compared the differences between normal pancreatic tissue and cancerous pancreatic tissue (from this family and other unrelated pancreatic cancer patients).

Paladin is one of the 243 genes, and the study confirmed that it is highly expressed in the tissues of this family and other cancer patients. It is named after the 16th-century Italian architect Palladio and is related to encoding cell architecture (controlling cell shape and activity). Subsequently, the researchers conducted quantitative analysis of Paladin RNA in tissues from healthy people, pancreatic cancer specimens, and patients with pancreatic precancer in the family. The results showed that Paladin was overexpressed earlier in patients with non-hereditary pancreatic cancer and was associated with the development of pancreatic cancer. Further analysis found that Paladin mutations were present in pancreatic cancer patients or pancreatic precancer patients in the family, but not in unaffected members. Laboratory studies have found that mutated Paladin can increase the mobility of human cells and damage the cell skeleton (typical characteristics of cancer cells).

These results suggest that the mutated Paladin gene is associated with the occurrence of pancreatic cancer in this family. In addition, it has been shown that overexpression of the Paladin gene may also be associated with the development of non-hereditary pancreatic cancer. Considering Paladin as a "pancreatic cancer gene" will allow us to understand the cellular process of pancreatic cancer from a molecular perspective, which will help improve the diagnosis of the disease and improve the treatment of this deadly disease.