Pancreatic cancer causes

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Aravind Reddy Kothagadi M.B.B.S[2]

Pancreatic cancer may be caused by the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes such as p53, p16, p27CIP1 and BRCA2. Oncogenes such as Ras , Cox-2, Akt-2, Notch and Cyclin D1 may undergo activation and lead to the development of pancreatic cancer. Deregulation and crosstalk between different signal transduction pathways due to genomic alterations also have a proven role in the causation of pancreatic cancer.

• Pancreatic cancer may be caused by the following:^[1][2][3]
  • Inactivation of tumor suppressor genes
  • Activation of oncogenes
  • Deregulation of molecules in various signaling pathways

• Inactivation of tumor suppressor genes:
  • Tumor suppressor genes may be inactivated by:
    • Mutation
    • Hypermethylation
    • Deletion
  • Tumor suppressor genes:
    • p53
    • p16
    • p27CIP1
    • BRCA2

• Activation of oncogenes
  • Oncogenes may be activated by:
    • Amplification
    • Point mutation
  • Oncogenes:
    • Ras oncogene
    • Cox-2 activation
    • Akt-2 gene amplification
    • Notch gene
    • Cyclin D1

• Deregulation of molecules in various signaling pathways:
  • Genomic alterations of EGFR include the following:
    • Deletion
    • Over-expression
    • Rearrangement
    • Mutation
  • Deregulation of NF-κB signaling
  • Deregulation of Akt signaling
  • Deregulation of Hedgehog signaling