OVEREXPRESSED PROGENITOR GENE CSF1R IN PANCREATIC CANCER TISSUES AND NERVE INVASIVE PANCREATIC CANCER CELLS.

Aim- pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is one of the most aggressive oncological disease with early metastasis and high mortality rate. CSF1R is a gene with progenitor activity, which is also associated with different malignant diseases. In this study our objective was to analyze expression of CSF1R in pancreatic cancer tissues and nerve invasive cancer cells. Quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) was used to analyze the expression of CSF1R mRNA in nine cultured pancreatic cancer cell lines and pancreatic bulk tissues of the normal pancreas, chronic pancreatitis (n=20/20) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (n=58). Nerve invasive clones of two pancreatic cancer cell lines was also used. QRT-PCR analysis revealed a significant up-regulation of CSF1R mRNA expression in pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissues compared to normal tissues and low expression of this gene indicated a tendency for better survival of pancreatic cancer patients. Expression of CSF1R mRNA was present in all tested pancreatic cancer cell lines with comparably low to moderate expression levels. The CSF1R was significantly overexpressed in nerve invasive pancreatic cancer cells. Increased expression of CSF1R in pancreatic cancer might be related to perineural invasion and poor prognosis. CSF1R might be an important factor during the development and malignant transformation of tissues.