Background: The SPINK1 mutation N34S is associated to chronic pancreatitis of idiopathic, alcoholic and tropic origin. Our aim was to evaluate its prevalence in patients with sporadic pancreatic cancer.
Methods: The N34S allele of SPINK1 was analyzed by melting curve analysis using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) probes and the LightCycler in 159 German patients with sporadic pancreatic cancer (83 male, 76 female, median age of diagnosis 61 years, range 36-84 years) and 492 healthy controls.
Results: The N34S mutation was detected in 2 (1.3%) of the 159 patients with pancreatic cancer and in 8 (1.6%) of the 492 controls (not significant).
Conclusion: The N34S mutation of SPINK1 appears not to be a distinct genetic risk factor in patients with sporadic pancreatic cancer.
Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel and IAP