Feng Gao , Tianm ing Zhang, Ling Guo, Yan Wang, Zheng Guo, Chengfei Zhao
Background Pancreatic cancer is a rapidly progressive and usually fatal disorder that has risen to be the 6th leading cause of cancer deaths in China. Trypsin is believed to play an important role in the development of pancreatic cancer. The aim of the present study was to determine whether serum trypsin levels and cationic trypsinogen (PRSS1) genotypes could be served as prognostic indicators in pancreatic cancer. Methods A total of 140 patients with pancreatic cancer were included in this study. The serum trypsin levels were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The genotypes of PRSS1 gene were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction -direct sequencing. And the clinicopathologic parameters of patients were also evaluated. Results It showed that the median survivals of patients with high serum trypsin level (6.4 months) were significantly shorter than that who with low serum trypsin level (7.6 months; P=0.0192). The median survivals were also found significantly shorter in patients who had rs10273639 CC genotype of PRSS1 (4.1 months) compared to those who had TT (8.4 months) or TC (6.6 months) genotypes (P=0.0058 for TT vs. CC, P=0.0377 for TC vs. CC). However, there were no significant differences in the median survivals between patients with TT and TC genotypes of PRSS1. Conclusions Serum trypsin levels and the rs10273639 CC genotype of PRSS1 may be used as novel prognostic indicators in pancreatic cancer.