Detection of c-Ki-ras point mutation from pancreatic juice. A useful diagnostic approach for pancreatic carcinoma.

Cytological diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma sometimes poses difficulties in distinguishing malignant from benign cells. Recent molecular study of pancreatic carcinoma has revealed a very high incidence of a point mutation of the c-Ki-ras oncogene at codon 12 in this neoplasm. To take advantage of this technique for the diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma, we attempted to amplify the c-Ki-ras gene from endoscopically obtained pancreatic juice by isolation of DNA and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coupled with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). PCR was possible in approx 70% of the cases. A point mutation was nonradioisotopically detected in 4 of 6 pancreatic carcinomas and in one intraductal papillary neoplasm, whereas no mutation was detected in other cases. Thus, this method was thought to be useful for the diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma.