Developing of cancer prediction method in patients with IPMN

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K09467
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Gastroenterology
• Research Institution: Osaka Metropolitan University (2022); Osaka City University (2017-2021)
• Principal Investigator: Hagihara Atsushi 大阪公立大学, 大学院医学研究科, 講師 (40423884)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: がん / 膵臓 / miRNA / メチル化 / エクソソーム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Pancreatic cancer is an incurable cancer with a poor prognosis, and it is important to detect early-stage pancreatic cancer or patients who develop pancreatic carcinoma. Patients with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), which is considered a precancerous lesion of the pancreas, have a high frequency of not only pancreatic carcinogenesis but also carcinogenesis of other organs. Now, since miRNAs in exosomes, which are intercellular signaling molecules, exist in blood in a stable state, their analysis can reveal information about the cell from which they are released and may be effective in detecting IPMN patients who develop cancer. In addition, the genome-wide methylation analysis revealed genes that are highly methylated in cancerous lesions and only infrequently methylated in normal and non-cancerous lesions.

Free Research Field

消化器がん

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

膵癌は予後不良の難治癌である。定期的に人間ドックを受診しているにも関わらず、切除不能な膵癌が見つかることがあり、早期膵癌や膵発癌する受診者を正確に見つけることが重要である。膵臓の前癌病変と言われる膵管内乳頭粘液腫瘍(IPMN)では、膵発癌のみではなく他臓器発癌の頻度が高い。IPMN患者は発癌率が数%/年と高頻度であり、癌発見率(担癌比率)が0.3%と低い人間ドック受診者を対象にするよりも、医療経済的にも注目できる。また、IPMN患者は、決して稀な疾患ではない。血液から癌細胞由来のエクソソームを適切に分離することで超早期癌の診断ができ、発癌するIPMN患者を発見するのに有効と考えられた。