EXPRESSION OF TUMOR-ASSOCIATED CARBOHYDRATE ANTIGENS CORRELATES WITH HEPATIC METASTASIS OF PANCREATIC-CANCER - CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES

Background/Aims: This study was designed to detect an useful indicator to prognose postoperative hepatic metastases of pancreatic cancer. Ma terials and Methods: Pie analyzed clinical and histological data in th irty patients. Results: Of the ten items analyzed, only preoperative s erum CA 19-9 level was indicative of postoperative hepatic metastases. When the patients were classified into two groups in regard to the CA 19-9 level making a boundary at 50 U/ml, the group of CA 19-9 level e qual to, or over; 50 U/ml possessed a significantly higher frequency o f the hepatic metastases. With a design based on these clinical result s, we experimentally studied a correlation between expression of three carbohydrate antigens (CA 19-9, DUPAN-2 and Span-1) and incidence of blood-borne hepatic metastases in nude mice by using six human pancrea tic cancer cell lines. These antigens were immunocytochemically detect able in four cell fines (SUIT-2, AsPC-1, HPAF and Capan-2) and were un detectable in two cell lines (MIA PaCa-2 and BxPC-3). All of the forme r cell lines fonned metastatic lesions in the liver. In contrast, the latter two did not cause hepatic metastases at all. Moreover, these an tigens were were pleased more intensely in the metastatic foci than in the primary transplanted tumor- lesion in, the spleen. Conclusion: Th ere is a positive correlation between expression of the carbohydrate a ntigens and metastatic potential of pancreatic cancer.