Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Pancreatic cancer

Classifying pancreatic cancer using gene expression profiling

Despite some advances in our understanding of the molecular characteristics of pancreatic cancer, much more progress is needed. In a new study, RNA profiling of pancreatic cancers was used to identify gene signatures of tumour cells and stromal cells to help predict patient outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Rahib, L. et al. Projecting cancer incidence and deaths to 2030: the unexpected burden of thyroid, liver, and pancreas cancers in the United States. Cancer Res. 74, 2913–2921 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kaufman, B. et al. Olaparib monotherapy in patients with advanced cancer and a germline BRCA1/2 mutation. J. Clin. Oncol. 33, 244–250 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Le, D. T. et al. PD-1 blockade in tumors with mismatch-repair deficiency. N. Engl. J. Med. 372, 2509–2520 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Moffitt, R. A. et al. Virtual microdissection identifies distinct tumor- and stroma-specific subtypes of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Nat. Genet. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.3398.

  5. Infante, J. R. et al. Peritumoral fibroblast SPARC expression and patient outcome with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. J. Clin. Oncol. 25, 319–325 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Erkan, M. et al. The activated stroma index is a novel and independent prognostic marker in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Clin. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 6, 1155–1161 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Stromnes, I. M., DelGiorno, K. E., Greenberg, P. D. & Hingorani, S. R. Stromal reengineering to treat pancreas cancer. Carcinogenesis 35, 1451–1460 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Iacobuzio-Donahue, C. A. et al. DPC4 gene status of the primary carcinoma correlates with patterns of failure in patients with pancreatic cancer. J. Clin. Oncol. 27, 1806–1813 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Ayars, M. & Goggins, M. in Molecular Alterations of Pancreatic Cancer (eds Simeone, D. & Maitra, A.) 185–208 (Springer, 2013).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  10. Ruiz, C. et al. Advancing a clinically relevant perspective of the clonal nature of cancer. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 12054–12059 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by S. Wojcicki and D. Troper, NIH grants (R01CA176828 and CA62924), the American Association for Cancer Research, the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, the Jimmy V Foundation, and the Rolfe Pancreatic Cancer Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Goggins.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ayars, M., Goggins, M. Classifying pancreatic cancer using gene expression profiling. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 12, 613–614 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2015.180

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2015.180

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Cancer

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Cancer newsletter — what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Cancer